The Gift That Gives back
by JulieM
Summary: What will Mac do when she discovers a secret from her family's past?
1. Chapter 1

Summary: What will Mac do, when she discovers a secret from her family's past?

Spoilers: None, this is an alternate reality fic that diverts from what actually happened in the series.

Disclaimer: JAG ans its main characters belong to DPS and to CBS. I don't make any profit from writing any of these fics, but simply get to exercise my overactive imagination every now and then. PLease don't sure me, as I'm poor with very little money!

Rating: I don't know...PG-13...K+...something like that. Pretty benign!

Category: Mac-centered fic, but also kind of a H/M shipper fic...At least that is what it will develop into. But to begin with, just Harm and Mac at their classic best!

The Gift That Gives Back

OOOO

It was a day like any other, when Harm and Mac returned from a pre-trial meeting. Things would be full-steam ahead, come Monday of the next week.

"Ma'am," Harriet informed Mac, "You have somebody waiting for you in your office. She didn't have an appointment, but she seemed very tired and looked like she really needed to get off her feet. I made sure that all your files were locked away in your filing cabinet and nothing valuable was lying around...just in case, but I doubt that's really necessary."

Once Mac got to her office, Mac saw just what Harriet meant. The pale, skinny woman Harriet had escorted in looked like her dark hair and scruffy clothes hadn't been washed that week and her sneakers looked like only one more kick would knock them to pieces. The only feature that suggested any type of pride in her appearance; her stocky, well-filled tote bag, which was still hooked over one shoulder, even though she had sat down over fifteen minutes before.

"Good afternoon," Mac greeted her, as she closed the door and the young made eye-contact, "I'm Colonel Sarah MacKenzie…May I help you?"

"Colonel…You don't know me, but I've been told that we have some heritage in common…"

Mac took a second to look at her closer and thought that maybe this young woman was a student looking for her help with research or something. She'd leant her expertise in cases concerning Islam and the Qur'an before and it was a hot topic in many college courses. This woman looked like she might have some middle-east roots, herself.

However, she wasn't prepared for anything that hit as close to home as what this woman told her.

"I recently unsealed my birth records, Colonel, which indicated that my birth parents were a Deanne O'Hara and a Joseph MacKenzie…Searching for both of them has turned up nothing, but I did learn that they'd had another daughter, before I was born…"

Mac was unable to speak for a minute, before she turned and closed her door, to keep this meeting private.

The woman leaned forward over something, after Mac's door closed shut and took a minute before turning back to her. When Mac went to seat herself, Mac realized that she had inadvertently awakened a small child, sleeping in a child's carrier seat in front of the young woman, originally out of Mac's sight. Although the child wriggled, obviously disturbed from her nap, she didn't utter a sound.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mac apologized, "I didn't realize you had a baby with you…"

"It's okay, Colonel," the woman replied, soothing the child by replacing the pacifier that had fallen out of her tiny mouth when her little body jumped, reflexively, "You weren't to know. She's a quiet little thing…"

Mac could see, by studying the child that this was something else that the woman took pride in. The child was dressed in new, expensive-looking clothes, designer shoes, the cute outfit finished off with an alice-band that matched the material of her overalls.

"Well, you obviously know more about me than I know about you…your name is….?" Mac sat down and watched this young woman with her child.

"Gina," the woman held her hand out and passed Mac a folded piece of paper, "Gina Moreno. I was adopted soon after birth, but I put off searching for my birth parents until after my adoptive parents had passed away. I loved them as much as if they'd given me life, but I've always wondered about my real parents, especially after my daughter was born."

Mac opened the piece of paper up to find that it was actually several all folded together. The first was a birth certificate, containing the names of both Joe MacKenzie and Deanne O'Hara nee. MacKenzie, as well as 'Rachel Lorraine MacKenzie,' which Mac guessed must have been changed after her adoption. The second was a copy of the form where Deanne had signed away her maternal rights and put her daughter up for adoption. The third was the form that Gina's parents, Victor and Angela Moreno had signed, legally becoming parents to Gina Moreno, previously known as Rachel MacKenzie.

"I'm sorry to hear about your parents," Mac sympathized, " and also sorry to give you the bad news that Joseph MacKenzie is…deceased. And Deanne…well, I have little idea of where she is. The last time I saw her, she turned up unexpectedly at Joe's death-bed. She showed up, not wanting anything to do with Joe, but hoping that I'd be there and after some talking, I realized that she hadn't changed much from how I remembered her as a child. My…sorry, our mother…well, she and I didn't exactly part ways on good terms and I'm not sure I can give you any information to help you with your search."

"Our mother and father were separated?" Gina asked, obviously a little surprised, but trying not to make a big deal about it.

"Yes, shortly after I turned fifteen," Mac nodded, then expanded, "very shortly after I turned fifteen, actually…Our Mother left home the very day I turned fifteen…I didn't see or hear from her again until Joe was dying."

Gina looked like she didn't know what to say at this and Mac guessed that the rest of her childhood story would have to be broken carefully, a bit at a time.

"I'm sorry, I know that this is a lot for you to take in…" Mac tried to comfort the woman who she suddenly comprehended was the little sister she had always wanted, "My head is sort of spinning, right now, too! I have very little idea about what happened in Deanne's life after she left Joe and I…I had kinda always wished I had a little brother or sister…It's kind of a selfish wish, but try telling that to a seven year old…"

When Mac looked up again, she could tell that Gina was confused.

Mac gave her a smile and suggested, "Why don't we go somewhere for an early dinner? I just need to get permission from my CO, but it shouldn't be a problem."

After Mac got permission from AJ, she popped in to say goodbye to Harm, then went and collected Gina and her baby, before they left and went to a quiet bistro in DC.

"I'm assuming that the story of our family is a complicated one," Gina commented, as they both tucked into their dinner.

Gina's daughter had fallen asleep in the car, soon after the engine started, which Gina explained was a result of the gentle vibrations.

"More than you could ever guess," Mac nodded, in reply to Gina's comment/question, "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, because I had very little to do with how it all turned out…But our Father, Joe, was a marine, like me and unfortunately he relied on alcohol to get through his days…I think he was such a fragile, pitiful man that he grabbed whatever crutch he could find. It was a path that I unwittingly followed him down, but eventually I enlisted some invaluable help and managed to get myself back on the straight and narrow and into the marines."

Gina's expression made Mac squirm a bit, but she sat patiently, knowing that it was a lot for her to take in. When Gina spoke up, Mac hadn't anticipated what she said at all.

"I always wondered about that…I had problems myself, in my younger years. Not very intelligent, I know, but I got in with a bad crowd, during my high-school years…"

"I think I'm the last person to pass judgment on something like that," Mac assured her, "I think I must have drunk just about every day after Deanne left. It seemed to work for Joe and at that point in time, I just hurt too much to care what it might have done to me. It was a convenient anesthetic."

"Teenage years are bad enough," Gina sympathized, "I don't know where I'd be today if my parents hadn't helped me. Who was this person who gave you 'invaluable help'?"

"Our uncle, Matt O'Hara. He's Deanne's brother," Mac told her, "He's the only one who ever took any sort of responsibility for me, even though I wasn't his child. He used to take me on days out and camping trips into the desert when I was a kid. He was in the marines too, so he wasn't around that much, but whenever he was there, it made all the difference in my life."

"So was it our uncle or our father who you followed into the marines? Or did you do it for yourself?" Gina asked.

"I certainly didn't want to follow our father into anything, ever again," Mac shook her head, smiling, "As for myself, I wasn't able to do much for myself at that time. I was in a dark, dark place. But Matt was like a hero to me. I respected everything he stood for and those principles had roots in the Marine Corps. I was a wreck and I knew that they wouldn't have to even break me down before they built me back up. They gave me everything I really needed in my life just then and not just the roof over my head and food on the table…"

Gina just listened and before long Mac suddenly realized herself and wound that story up. She was sure that Gina had lots of questions she needed answered.

"I respect you for that, Sarah," Gina smiled, "I know that life isn't all roses and the fact that you've been through so much and still come out on top…God, that speaks volumes about you! But what I really don't understand about our mother…What made her leave her child?"

"You mean me or you?" Mac asked.

"You...I've always wondered why she left me, but you probably have little idea about what happened to Deanne after she left you and our father," Gina answered.

Mac took a deep breath; she had known this would come, but she still had no idea what she'd say. She just let the words fall from her lips.

"Well, the last thing I want to do is upset you, Gina, but…Joe MacKenzie wasn't just a drunk…he was a mean drunk, a very mean drunk. He always was…since before I can remember, I suppose, maybe even before I was born…"

Understanding dawned in Gina's sad, brown eyes.

"Deanne told me, the last time I spoke to her, that Joe had held a knife to her throat that day she left. He told her that he'd kill her and after everything she'd suffered at his hands, she took him at his word. I had stayed at a friend's house the night before, so I wasn't home at the time, but when I came home, I found our father drunk and our mother gone…What year were you born, again?"

"October 18, in 1982."

"That's about seven months after she left…Maybe she knew about you, already…But Deanne wasn't one to take responsibility for the things that had happened in her life. When the going got tough, she ran. I could still see that trait in her when I met her, all those years later. And when things got a bit difficult and she didn't know how to answer my questions and take responsibility for her own part in what happened; she ran again. The only thing she said was that she knew that Joe would never hurt me…Sure, he was a bit mean to me, tough on me, especially verbally, but she didn't think he'd ever hurt me. She said that she eventually stopped calling, because he was always the one who would pick up the phone. But she never tried coming back for me, there were long periods where Joe wasn't aware even what day of the week it was. She just built a new life without me in it, because it was easier. I still don't know how any mother could do that to their own child…I've accepted it and moved past it, but even I have to admit, she wasn't exactly mother of the year."

"So I gather," Gina took a long swallow of her drink, an ice tea.

"You said it was soon after you were born that you were adopted?"

"Yes, I was under two months old. Victor and Angela Moreno were everything a child could ever want or need, as far as parents go. They always encouraged me in everything I expressed an interest in…Sure, that probably wasn't a good idea when I wanted to be a ballerina and a pop star, but they both had hearts of gold, God bless them. I lost them only twelve months ago, in a car accident. I'd only known about Penny for a month or so, I was struggling with the prospect of motherhood as it was and they were the only assistance I had. Of course, it took a while to get back on my feet, but as soon as things began to ease up, I got hit with another blow…"

Mac knew that this would probably not be good news; she wasn't naïve enough to think that Gina had probably only come to see her because she wanted to know her sister.

"After a routine post-natal examination, my doctor informed me that I had a serious blood disorder; acute myeloid leukemia. Right now, I'm about to undergo the first stages of my treatment; my first round of chemotherapy. I've been encouraged to bring along family members, but up until last week, I had no idea how to go about finding my birth family. I knew from my birth records that Joe was in the Marine Corps, so I thought that would be a good place to start. I called up an investigator who had experience with the military and I was so startled when he called me back the same day to say that I had a sister, who had also joined the marines. But he never said anything about an uncle in the Marine Corps."

"Matt was dishonorably discharged, a few years back," Mac told her, explaining, "He was trying to make a valid point, but he didn't think the idea over enough and things spiraled out of control. He's currently serving time in Fort Leavenworth Pen. But his heart is always in the right place."

"I'd never want to impose upon you, Sarah," Gina said, sincerely, "but I don't think I'm going to be able to cope without some help. I know it's a lot to ask, when you didn't even know of my existence even two hours ago, but…"

"If there's anything I can help with," Mac interrupted her, "then you need only ask, Gina…"

Mac was even startled by her own words, she couldn't think how she had come to be so trusting over the last hour. Sure, she didn't have a heart of stone, but she wasn't naïve, either. But something in Gina's eyes told her this was the absolute truth, this woman who had nobody but her child, a child who depended upon her.

Gina seemed similarly overcome. She lifted her still-sleeping child out of the carrier, settling her on her lap, cuddled against her. Her eyes were teary as she spoke up again.

"I just…I don't know what to say…Up until yesterday, I felt so alone. I was so scared when the doctor told me about the leukemia, so worried that Penny would have to grow up without her mother. I knew I would have to follow the doctor's advise, to the letter. And when he told me what I would have to go through, I just thought; 'How am I going to do this on my own? How am I going to care for Penny when I won't even be able to care for myself?"

"You don't need to worry about yourself, or about Penny," Mac assured her, "I will be there to care for her and to care for you. You can't go through this on your own and I would never willingly let you do so. Have you got medical insurance?"

Gina nodded, adding, "My parents took care of that for me, knowing that after I had Penny I would probably be unable to return to work straight away. And she turned out to be a very sickly baby; I wouldn't have been able to manage those first few months without the safeguards they had put in place. Soon after their deaths, I learned that they'd not only set up a fund to continue paying for our medical insurance, but that they'd also set up funds in mine and Penny's names, so that I could afford to stay out of work for at least another year. They'd always encouraged me to spend the first year with Penny, because they said it would be one of the most important. Mom and Dad always did know best…"

"And Penny's father?" Mac asked, gently.

"He wasn't interested in becoming a father," Gina admitted, "He was focused on grad-school and on big things after that, so he signed away all rights to Penny soon after I told him she was on the way."

"How about somewhere to stay?" Mac asked, knowing that Gina might not be able afford somewhere that was in one of the better neighborhoods.

"Once I got referred to a doctor at the Lombardi Centre at Georgetown hospital, the staff there arranged somewhere for me to rent that was affordable and nearby. When I explained my circumstances to my doctor, he even assured me that I would be well taken care of, medically, even if I need some treatments that were not covered by my insurance policy…"

Mac sighed in relief, knowing that the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center had an excellent reputation in both caring for and in treating their patients. Not that Mac wouldn't have done everything she could financially for Gina, had Gina needed it; she now had a young sister who needed her help, like she had once needed help. Somebody had to be there for her and Mac was determined that she'd do a better job than either of their parents had. But you had to acknowledge that Joe MacKenzie probably had never known about Gina.

"Okay," Mac nodded, "how about we get you home and sorted for the night? You look very tired and I'm sure that you've heard plenty today that you need to digest properly."

"Oh, thank you, yes!" Gina exclaimed; her big sister had hit the nail right on the head.

"Okay," Mac nodded, taking care of the check and helping her sister out to the car.

OOOO


	2. Chapter 2

OOOO

Later that night, Mac paid her partner a visit, but unfortunately found him busy entertaining someone she whom she presumed (wrongly) must be his latest conquest. She shrugged off the importance of her visit, saying she had just stopped by for a chat, since she'd been in the area (not entirely true, but Gina's apartment was closer to Harm's than her own.) She assured him she'd catch him at work, the next day.

OOOO

"Join me for lunch, today, Colonel?" Harm asked, after the first session of court recessed.

"Sorry, Harm," Mac apologized, "I'm afraid I've got plans…In fact, if I don't hurry, I'm going to be late…"

"Got a date, Colonel?" Harm asked, curiously.

"Do my shoes suggest 'date' to you, Commander?" Mac asked, after toeing off the pair of heels she had worn in court and slipping into a pair of flats.

She left Harm standing in her office, telling him, "Please close the door on your way out…" before heading out.

Despite her assertion, Harm thought that Mac seemed just a bit too cheerful, too eager to simply be meeting a friend. Was this about, a few nights ago? He'd been wanting to get out of that blind-date-disaster all evening, but that little doe-eyed powder-puff had insisted on following him home. He'd managed to wrap it up soon after Mac left, but Mac had not called like she said she would, even over the next weekend. Was this some sort of revenge for him dating someone else? Harm didn't think that Mac was the vengeful type, sure she had sometimes seemed interested in him as more than a fellow officer, particularly lately, but playing these sort of games?

Harm settled for a working lunch, going over the details of their case, rechecking all the details so they were ready for going back into court.

OOOO

"Sorry," Mac scrambled for her cellphone in her purse, casting an eye to little Penny, once again sleeping peacefully in her carrier.

She didn't stir and Gina quickly assured her, "It isn't a problem."

Mac found it was Harm calling.

"Harm?" she asked, "Have we been called back in early or something?"

A quick glance at her pager told her that wasn't the case.

"No, I just wanted to ask you something…Do you remember Petty Officer Morales saying anything about frequenting bars in the area where the assault took place?"

"Harm," Mac tried to be firm, but polite, "I'm actually kinda busy just now…"

"And this could be an important detail to helping our case," Harm justified, shamelessly baiting her, "This isn't upsetting your date, is it?"

"Goodbye, Harm…" Mac didn't give him the opportunity to reply before she hit the disconnect button on her phone and slipped it into her purse again.

"Just a nosy colleague," she told her sister, "I intend to introduce you to all of my friends, of course, but I'd like to have you to myself for a while, first!"

Gina just laughed, loudly and resumed eating.

Again, Mac's eyes went curiously to Penny, who was still slumbering soundly. Mac had at first been a little concerned that the noisy crowd in the popular restaurant would disturb the baby, but Gina had told her not to worry about it.

Again, Mac thought about what a quiet, placid child Penny was. Neither Bud, Harriet, Harm nor herself had been able to contain Little AJ's energy, at that age. They'd only managed to meet up once over the weekend, so Mac hadn't heard a lot about Penny, other than what a quiet child she was and that she had been sickly, when she was younger.

"She's okay here, really," Gina again reassured her, obviously reading her sister's thoughts.

"I was just worried about the noise," Mac explained.

"She doesn't hear any of it."

Penny certainly seemed to be deeply asleep, Mac noted, before Gina continued.

"Any of it…Mac, Penny's congenitally deaf. She's also mute, although the doctors weren't able to figure out if it's just the problem with her ears, the section of her brain that controls speech or if she is just selectively mute…They said that it can happen with children who are born without hearing. Most still develop sounds, like any other child does, but some never utter a sound, not even reflexive ones."

"But what about in my office, when I shut the door too hard?" Mac asked, confused.

"She's extremely sensitive to vibrations," Gina explained, adding, "And smells, for that matter. She gets excited at the scent of her baby food and her bubble bath! She's well behind most other kids in her development, including physical, but that's only because she had such problems with her digestive system. She was only a few days old when she underwent an operation on her intestines. Doctors thought it might just be IBS or Chron's disease, but it turned out that her bowel was entangled. She has more of it than other children and sometimes things get caught and they become inflamed. She's likely to grow out of it. However, combined with the other problems, her development has been profoundly affected. I was looking into specialist education systems when the bad news came about my leukemia."

"Do you need any help with that?" Mac asked, "I'm sure your hospital and doctor's visits will keep you busy, so I could ask around for you…My friends Harriet and Bud might be able to help. They've got a couple of children, one who is at school. I'm sure AJ's school could give us some references…"

"That would be great, thanks, Mac," Gina looked like her mind was at peace now for the first time in months, "I really don't know what I'd do without you…"

"That's what big sisters are for!" Mac winked at her.

They had to part ways soon after that, because Mac's pager went off to say that the court session had been moved up.

After hugging goodbye, Gina set off with Penny for appointments with the pediatrician and oncologist, while Mac headed in the opposite direction, back to JAG's courtrooms.

OOOO

"How'd your date go?" Harm asked, when Mac answered her door, later that night.

They'd been busy with prosecution strategies all day, so he'd forgotten his prodding campaign.

"Great," Mac teased him back, "Penny's a great girl…"

"What?!" Harm's eyes bugged out of his head, "Oh, you actually weren't on a date, were you?"

"I did tell you that, didn't I?" Mac asked.

"No, not exactly," Harm pointed out.

"As good as…" Mac maintained.

"Are you planning on letting me in," Harm asked, leaning against the wall right next to the door, "or are you entertaining your girlfriend, again?"

"C'mon in," Mac invited, stepping aside to let Harm in.

The first thing he saw when he stepped in was the portable crib that had been set up in the living room.

"Is this your 'girlfriend,' Penny?" he asked, looking at the tiny occupant inside and cocking an eyebrow.

"This is Penny," Mac confirmed, "I'm not sure that I'd call her a girlfriend, but she is my niece, whom I've only known about since last week. I offered to baby-sit tonight because her Mom really needs a full night of rest. She's had a long day with doctor's visits."

"Do you mean you're 'Aunty Mac,' or 'aunty Mac?" Harm asked, which, funnily enough, Mac understood.

"I'm a real Aunt, Harm. On Friday, I discovered that I have a little sister that I never knew existed…or at least she found me. It turns out that she was born and put up for adoption soon after my Mom ran off on my Father and I. I assume that Joe never knew that Deanne was expecting and obviously my Mom found the responsibility of a child too much to handle…again."

"Wow," Harm remarked, "That's BIG news…I assume that you're pleased to find out you have a sister…"

"Yeah, it's something that every only-child wishes for, but I guess I am a little upset by the circumstances. Gina was adopted into a nice home, but her parents died about a year back. She decided to search for her birth family after Penny was born and went through a bad spell and after her doctor told Gina that she had leukemia. She's being treated here in DC, which is where a private investigator told her she could find me."

"Uh, yeah," Harm surmised, "I can see how this is all a little bitter-sweet. Is your sister okay? How's her treatment going?"

"She's only about to enter the first stage, yet," Mac told him, "But I thought she could really use some TLC, beforehand. That's why I'm watching Penny tonight, then again, this weekend, while Gina goes to a 'fitness spa.' She's going to need all the strength she can muster, once her chemo sessions begin."

"That's too bad about your sister," Harm commiserated, asking, "have they said anything about the possibility of a bone marrow transplant?"

"Gina says that she's nowhere near that stage, yet. Her doctors want to try the chemo, to see if they can force the cancer into remission. Bone marrow transplants have the ability to cure, but open up the body to all sorts of post-operative infections. Because their own bone marrow is killed off before the transplant, patients have basically got no immunity until the new bone marrow is established. But I do plan on being tested, anyway."

"She's your full sibling, so the chances of a good match are strong," Harm nodded.

"I'm not sure just how good is good enough for a transplant," Mac told him, before going to check on Penny. Satisfied that she was sleeping, Mac asked Harm if he wanted to stay to watch a movie.

"Sure…Do you want me to help move Penny's crib into the bedroom?"

"Maybe later, but she'll be fine there, for now."

When Mac picked out a movie, Harm expressed concerns about the action sequences in it, thinking that they'd be too loud when there was a child sleeping nearby.

"It won't be a problem, Harm," Mac explained, "Penny can't hear…at all. She's congenitally deaf and is only sensitive to vibrations, but that should be okay, as long as we don't have it up too loud."

OOOO

Mac opened the door, knowing just who would be here on a Saturday afternoon. She'd been expecting this visit all day.

"Hey Harm," she welcomed him in, taking his coat from him and putting it in the wardrobe.

"Look, Penny," she turned back to her niece, who was seated in her car seat on the living room floor, watching a battery-operated toy monkey who blew bubbles, "Aunty Mac's friend Harm has come to see you."

The little girl of course didn't hear her, but looked up at the vibrations coming from the front door closing. Mac at first had been unsure how to act around the little girl; she was basically a stranger to Penny, but as the child had been pretty much accepting of Mac from the get-go, Mac had decided just to follow Gina's example. Gina always talked to her child, just as any other parent would and once Penny grew older, Gina had hopes to teach her daughter to lip-read.

"Hey there!" Harm smiled, bending down to eye-level (or almost) with the small child, "Nice to see you're awake, this time, little one! I can't believe how much you slept, last night."

The little girl watched Harm, placidly, obviously calmed by Harm appealing features. Mac had noted that Nikki Roberts was the same way, in the presence of her Godfather.

"She hardly ever stops sleeping," Mac told Harm, "Gina says she's been like that ever since she was born."

"She's probably growing…" Harm commented, "That's what my Grams always says about tiny babies. My Dad was one and she helped a friend care for her premature baby one summer, when I was about ten. 'Just let him sleep,' she said, 'When he sleeps, he's growing.' How old is Penny? She's a tiny little thing. Was she a preemie?"

"No, she wasn't and she turned five months last week," Mac replied, "but because of the problems she had when she was born, she's a bit behind other babies her age…You wanna hold her?"

Harm was a little wary.

"I dunno, she's so tiny…"

"She's not going to break," Mac assured him, lifting Penny out of her chair and joking, "just make sure you don't drop her. I wouldn't be able to explain it to Gina…"

Harm shot her a quick dirty look, trying to focus his full attention on the tiny little body in his arms.

"Well aren't you an itty-bitty little thing?" he asked the little girl, "I could probably fit you in the palm of one hand! I'm afraid you're going to slip through my fingers!"

"She likes you," Mac told him, with a smile.

Harm wasn't sure about that, but Penny did seem content enough in his arms. She didn't smile at him or anything, but watched him closely with her light brown eyes.

"I should have figured as much, she is a blond, after all," Mac joked, turning and heading towards the kitchen.

"Where you going, Mac?" Harm ignored the joke, but his head shot round and he instinctively held the baby a bit tighter.

Penny rewarded him with a hefty kick to the ribs.

"I'm just going to warm her bottle up," Mac placated him, "Don't worry, I'll only be a second."

"You're stronger than you look," Harm turned his attention back to Penny, who had settled down now that she felt Harm easing up.

By the time Mac returned, Penny had closed her eyes and was dozing.

"How many hours a day does she sleep?" Harm asked, amazed.

"Well, she slept until nearly seven am this morning and she's had several short naps already. I'll wake her up once her bottle has cooled down."

After that, they settled Penny back in her crib and sat down to watch some television.

OOOO

Mac and Gina were sitting with Penny on the hospital bed, waiting for Gina's doctor to show up. They'd just got Gina checked into her room and the doctor would be coming around to tell them about what would happen, later that day, when Gina underwent her first round of chemo-therapy.

"You okay?" Mac asked, watching her sister as she bottle-fed the baby, "You're not worried, are you?"

"Just a little nervous," Gina revealed, "but only because I don't know what's going to happen…the doctor couldn't tell me if I will even lose my hair. He said that after the first few rounds, once we have my blood counts back, then he'd decide if I needed to have the treatment strengthened or weakened. We don't know how my body's going to react to this…"

"I'll be here, the whole time," Mac assured her.

"If I start getting sick, I want you to take Penny out of here," Gina paused, before she explained, "I appreciate you helping me, but the best way you can do that is by protecting Penny. I don't want her seeing anything if I start getting really ill."

"But who is going to help you?" Mac really felt torn, "You're my little sister; I want to help you…"

"Do that; by protecting Penny for me," Gina was unmovable on this detail, "I'll have nurses here who'll take care of me, but I don't want Penny experiencing any of this during her very first year of life…Please promise me you will…"

Mac sighed, pausing for a second before reluctantly agreeing.

They were interrupted from any further discussion by the arrival of Gina's doctor.

OOOO

"How're you doing?" Mac asked, from where she was perched on Gina's bedside.

Gina just nodded and burrowed in closer to her pillow. A fine sheen had broken out across her pale forehead and Mac could see that she was really trying to hold it together.

As she started to turn green, Mac asked, "Would you like me to go and get the nurse?"

Gina nodded.

"Are you sure you don't want Penny and I to stay…"

Mac didn't even get to finish the question, before Gina resolutely shook her head. Mac knew better than to ask if Gina had meant 'No, I'm not sure' or 'No, I don't want you to stay.' She knew perfectly well what Gina had meant and she knew how much her daughter meant to Gina, which is why she had decided upon this.

Using every ounce of her marine strength and training, Mac got up off the bed, dropped a kiss onto the side of Gina's face and went to pick up Penny in her carrier.

"Bye, Mommy," she spoke for Penny, "We love you."

Gina managed a half-smile/half grimace in their direction, before shutting her eyes again and taking some deep breaths.

Mac walked out of Gina's room and made her way to the nurses' station, a single tear escaping and running down her cheek as she did.

She told them how Gina was experiencing severe nausea and when one nurse left to monitor Gina, the others looked back to Mac, who was not going back into the room.

"She, uh…she wants me to take the baby away, when she's feeling this bad…"

One of the nurses patted Mac's hand, understandingly and then went to help her colleague with their patient.

OOOO

When Mac left the hospital, there was only one place she could think of to go.

Harm was at home, that Saturday, doing a bit of DIY around the house. He nearly hit his head on the pipes below his kitchen sink, as he rose to answer his door.

"Mac," his face showed his concern, when he realized who was at his door, "Is everything alright? Isn't Gina at the hospital for her treatment?"

Mac nodded, a few more tears dripping down her face.

"Come in," Harm quickly ushered her and Penny inside, guiding her to the couch and taking his place beside her.

"I, uh, I don't understand, Mac," Harm admitted, "I thought you and Penny were going to be staying at the hospital with Gina, while she had her treatment…"

Mac nodded, wiping away the tears as she explained, "We were…But Gina started to get very sick after the treatment and wanted me to take Penny away…She didn't want Penny seeing her like that…"

Harm wrapped her in a warm hug.

"I just want to help…" Mac explained, helplessly.

"I'm sure you are, Mac," Harm calmed her, "I know you want to be there for your little sister, but you can only help Gina on her terms."

Mac nodded, morosely, turning her head on Harm's shoulder, so that she could see her niece, who had fallen asleep in the car on the way over.

OOOO

After the full set of treatments, Gina was let out of hospital for a couple of weeks, so that she could recover before beginning her second round. How that round went depended upon what her doctor found from her blood tests. Her doctor had arranged an appointment to speak to her about the results and the following treatment on the Tuesday, so Mac took the morning off work and went with her.

"I wish I had better news…"

Mac felt her head spinning, much like it had when she'd heard the same words from her own doctor.

"…Your blood results have showed no change at all. We're going to have to give you more intensive treatment and start you on a few new drugs…"

Mac sighed and her sister took her hand. At that moment, Mac didn't feel so much like the big sister anymore, even though it was Gina who was really impacted by all of this.

"Will that mean that I'm going to lose my hair?" Gina asked.

"Probably, yes," the doctor told her, regretfully.

"And the nausea?" Mac asked, "Will it be worse, with the more intensive treatment?"

Again the doctor nodded and added, "and with the more intensive treatment, we may need to keep you hospitalized between treatments…"

Gina looked to her sister, but didn't need to say anything.

"Of course I'll keep Penny, for you…I know how you feel about having her there when…"

Gina gave Mac's hand a squeeze in thanks.

But she would later find out that there wasn't anything that her sister wouldn't do for her.

After their appointment, Mac waited with Penny for Gina's meds while the prescription for Gina's meds was written up. When Gina's doctor emerged with the slip of paper, Mac asked about the chances of her being a suitable bone marrow donor for her sister.

"Well, we can of course run the tests, but at this point in time, we want to be focusing on the chemo-therapy. What we're hoping for with the chemo, is that Gina's leukemia will go into remission. With bone-marrow transplantation, the patients who succumb post-op usually do so from disease such as rejection or from common illness that is contracted post-op. Without grafted bone marrow, there is no immunity, you understand?."

Mac nodded and the doctor continued.

"But we will of course run the test for you and for any other family members who may wish it."

Mac thought about it for a second, replying, "No…I'm the only one around, just now. We have no idea where our Mother is. Do you think we should begin to search for her?"

"I wouldn't worry about it just yet…We have to hope that a bone marrow transplant won't become necessary…"

Mac nodded and thanked him, before he returned to his office. When Gina returned from the ladies' room, she and Mac headed to the car.

"I asked Dr. Rennick about the possibility of a bone-marrow transplant," Mac revealed.

"And he said that it wasn't in my best interests, unless the chemo doesn't help…" Gina had obviously had the same discussion with her doctor.

"Yeah," Mac nodded, "that's what he said…You asked the same thing?"

"Soon after I was diagnosed," Gina nodded.

The rest of the journey home was quiet, as both women thought about their absentee mother.

OOOO


	3. Chapter 3

OOOO

"Have you got everything you need?" Mac asked, looking to see if anything else of Gina's was in the baby supply bag.

"I think I'm all set," Gina took a deep breath as she felt the familiar nausea begin to roll around in the pit of her stomach.

"Just have the nurse call me if you need anything…" Mac began, sitting down on the bed and pulling her little sister into her arms, "I'll be right back with anything you need."

"I'll be okay," Gina assured her, even though she knew that the day ahead of her would be pure hell, "The nurses take good care of me."

"Okay," Mac ran her fingers through Gina's long, dark hair one last time, before getting up from the bed and lifting Penny and the diaper bag, "We'll see you later tonight. I'll wait for the nurses to call."

The nurses usually called in the evening, when the worst of the nausea was finally subsiding.

"Bye," Gina smiled and Mac paused for a moment in the doorway, thinking about how small her little sister looked in that bed; small and fragile and innocent, "We love you."

"Love…you...too," was all that Gina could reply.

She was able to hold back her tears until she was sure that Mac and Penny were gone.

OOOO

"Everything okay?" Harm asked, as Mac greeted him at her door.

"She got really sick, really fast, this time," Mac lowered her eyes, "But the nurses assured me that they'd seen this type of thing many times before and that they'd take good care of her."

"She'll be okay, Mac," Harm gave her a hug, before smiling and turning his attention to Penny, "I see Penny here's waiting for a hug from her Uncle Harm…"

"She wouldn't nap, this afternoon," Mac shook her head, distractedly, "I think she knew there was something wrong. Babies sense these kinds of things. I'm surprised she isn't asleep already…Maybe she was waiting for her uncle Harm."

Harm just flashed that flyboy grin as he maneuvered the baby into his arms and Mac felt her heart step up the pace. Even though she tried to make sure her face was carefully neutral, Harm must have caught the look.

"What about you? Are you glad to see me, too?"

Mac just gave him a quirky smile.

"Sure I am! I haven't had dinner yet and I've got all the fixings to make 'Harm's special home-made lasagna'! C'mon flyboy! I'm starving."

"Now there's a surprise," Harm mumbled to Penny, but loud enough for Mac to hear.

She swatted him with a dishtowel, once he joined her in the kitchen, to show him that she wasn't amused by his comment. Penny soon fell asleep while they were preparing dinner, so Mac put her down for a nap in her cot in the bedroom.

Harm was glad that he could take Mac's mind off of her and her sister's problems, at least for a while. Dinner was a peaceful, intimate affair, but afterwards a call came from the hospital, to say that Gina was still suffering nausea, so would be kept in the hospital, which the doctor had warned them was a distinct possibility.

"Do you need me to run you back to the hospital, or does Gina have everything she'll need, tonight?" Harm asked, when Mac told him what the nurse had told her.

"No, she has everything," Mac shook her head.

"If you want, I can still run you there and I'll stay outside with Penny, while you go and say goodnight to Gina," Harm offered, knowing that Mac actually did want to check on her sister, that night.

"Would you mind?" Mac asked.

"Not at all," Harm smiled, turning the television off and standing up.

Mac went and got Penny ready, putting her in warmer clothes now that night had fallen outside and secured the little girl in her carrier.

Once they got to the hospital, Harm stayed in the oncology unit lounge with Penny, while Mac went to check on Gina. One of the nurses recognized her as she passed the nurses' station.

Ms. MacKenzie," she nodded.

"How's she doing?" Mac asked, concerned.

"Her nausea has subsided," she was told, "for now…but her doctor would rather observe her for tonight, seeing as this is her first treatment at the increased dosage."

Mac entered quietly, just in case Gina was sleeping. Gina was indeed very drowsy, but she was still conscious.

"Hey!" Mac smiled, made her way over to the chair beside Gina's bed, "How are you doing?"

"Tired," Gina voice was slurred, "Penny?"

"She's with Harm, in the waiting room. It's quite nice in there…I just wanted to make sure that you're okay."

"Just tired…I don't think I've puked like that in all of my years…"

Mac moved to lie down on the bed, beside her sister, putting her arm around her and pulling her close.

"Shhh…It's going to be okay. I'm going to take some time off work, I'm going to go out and look for a well-qualified, experienced nanny and I'm going to be here for your next treatment…"

Gina went to broker a weak protest, but Mac hushed her, quietly, "Shhh…no arguments. That's just the way it has to be. You shouldn't be alone and Penny spends so much time asleep, she wouldn't even realize you're not around, let alone me…"

Gina gave a little chuckle.

"Are you going to introduce me to your friends and the people you work with?" Gina asked, tiredly.

"Yeah, of course…You've just had so much to deal with, lately. I'll leave the timing up to you. Whenever you're feeling better."

"It'll have to be soon," Gina supposed, "I don't know how much longer my hair is going to stay in and I don't want to be completely bald when I do meet them."

"Let's just wait and see," Mac stroked her sister's hair, "It's more important that you're feeling better…"

Harm found them like this forty minutes later. Gina had fallen asleep against Mac, as had Penny, against Harm's shoulder.

"Sorry," Harm apologized, explaining, "Penny fell asleep and I just wanted to make sure Gina was okay."

"Yeah," Mac nodded, with a smile, "She's still feeling pretty rough, but she's not being sick anymore. She'll just need some rest, then the doctor told her she can go home in the morning. I'm going to take some time off…"

"And come and pick her up…" Harm finished, but Mac continued.

"Yes, that and spend some time with her, over the next few weeks. I'm going to find a nanny to take care of Penny, so that I can be here full-time, with Gina."

"You might have trouble getting more than a couple of weeks," Harm flinched, remembering the General's mood, the past week.

"I really don't care about how bad his mood is, tomorrow," Mac shook her head, thinking about the past week, herself, "This isn't about him, it's about my sister who needs my help. This isn't something that he can deny me."

Harm gave her hand a squeeze, to convey that he understood and that he'd provide her any help she needed.

OOOO

"Coates, is the general available, please?" Mac asked, the next morning.

"He says he's got five minutes or so, Ma'am," Coates replied, after she checked, "Is that enough time for you?"

"That's plenty, thank you, petty officer," Mac graced Jen with a smile.

"You're welcome ma'am," was Coates' bemused reply.

The past few days, the Colonel had been distant, by no means cold or unfriendly, but distant.

OOOO

"How'd it go?" Harm asked, when Mac joined him in the break-room.

"He didn't like it," Mac shook her head, "He got ready to deny my when I first asked, but once I told him why I needed to take so much time off, he had no choice but to grant it to me. I may have to wait for a week or so, but he says he'll bring somebody in from one of the other JAG offices and I'll get my time away. A full month."

OOOO

Mac was preparing to call more nanny-vetting agencies, when her phone rang.

"Is this Colonel Sarah MacKenzie, please?" the voice on the other end asked.

"Yes," Mac replied, tensely.

"I'm calling from the oncology unit at the Lombardi Center…"

"Is my sister okay?" Mac cut the nurse off.

"Yes, Ma'am, but she's a little upset…She's asking for you…"

"I'll be right there," Mac replied, then rang off.

She rushed around to Harm's apartment, hoping that he'd be there and not out goodness knew where.

She was in luck.

"Hey there…"

"I'm sorry Harm, I can't stay, but I was really hoping that you could look after Penny for me for a few hours…"

"Sure," Harm said, without pausing for even a beat.

"I'm really sorry to do this, but the hospital called and Gina's been asking for me. They say she's upset…"

"Don't worry about it, Mac. I know this is important…"

"Thanks so much!" Mac surprised herself when she pulled Harm into a big-bear hug, before setting all of Penny's supplies next to where she'd placed the baby, in her carrier, "Just page me if you have any problems, I'll try to step out and check my pager every half-hour or so…"

"We'll be fine," Harm assured her, snapping out of his surprised silence "…seriously, go…"

Mac nodded and took off to the hospital.

When she got there, the nurse explained to her what was going on.

"She woke up and there was some hair on her pillow…She got awfully upset. I tried to explain that it was just a small amount, that she could tie her hair back and probably nobody would even notice. She's still kinda upset, we've been doing our best to put her at ease, but…"

It's okay," Mac calmed the woman, who had obviously been deeply affected by her sister's plight. Mac suspected that she was either relatively new to the profession, or she had personal experience with such a disease, "Thank you for taking care of her until I could get here."

Quietly entering Gina's room, she found her little sister in a state as bad as she had been expecting. The young woman was still in tears, with a small amount of her long, dark hair still clutched in her right hand.

"Gi?" Mac let her know that she was there, when Gina didn't seem to realize herself, "What wrong, honey?"

"They said they'd called you, but you still weren't here…" Gina sniffled, morosely.

"I'm sorry I took a while to get here," Mac apologized, explaining, "I had to drop Penny at Harm's and the traffic at this time of day was horrendous…"

Mac knew that Gina wasn't really questioning why she hadn't made it down there faster, but was just in pain right now and needing some sympathy.

"It's started," Gina released a shuddering sigh, lifting up the small handful of hair for Mac to see.

In the relatively short time they'd spent with each other, Mac had come to know that Gina was immensely proud of her hair. It was much like Mac's, but only slightly wavy and a little darker.

"It's going to be okay," Mac hugged her, kissing her temple, "If it all comes out, then we'll get you a hair-piece or two…Then you could even change the color, each day of the week…"

Gina gave a teary chuckle, but didn't say anything, just cuddling in closer.

As Mac was looking down as where Gina's head was resting underneath her chin, she caught sight of where her own hair was mingling with Gina's darker locks. It was then that an idea came to her. She didn't say anything to Gina for now; she wanted the opportunity to check things out, first.

OOOO

"Wow!"

That was all that Harm was able to say, when he opened his door to her, the next week.

"I take it you like my hair, then?" Mac questioned, stepping through the door as Harm held it open for her and Penny.

"Yeah. It's dark. It's darker than it's been for a while, now…"

"I decided to return to my natural shade," Mac revealed.

"It's a lot like Gina's," Harm remarked and Mac chose this opportunity to tell him more.

"Well, I wouldn't get too attached to it, especially the length, because it's getting chopped off, in a couple of weeks…"

"What?" Harm's face showed his confusion, as her took Penny from Mac, so Mac could set all of her supplies down.

Gina was again in the hospital for the day and Mac was going to go and see her, before her treatment began.

"What do you mean 'chopped off'?" Harm asked, when Mac volunteered no more.

"I'm going back to a shorter length," Mac finally elaborated, "One that is more regulation length and doesn't require so much energy every morning, when I'm getting ready for work. Most of it will go to a private hair salon in Georgetown, whose help I've enlisted in finding somebody who makes hair pieces…"

"Gina?" Harm asked, to which Mac replied with a nod.

"Her hair has been coming out more and more, over the past few days. It's so thin now, she's even wearing a hat when she's in bed, in her room. I hate to see her so down, so I thought about having a wig made for her, one that will suit her coloring and will look just like her natural hair…"

"I'm proud of you, Marine," it was now Harm's turn to unexpectedly give Mac the hug.

"What? What for? She's my sister and she's the one losing all her hair, not me. I'm just cutting some of it off for her to use."

"Still," Harm maintained, "I know how much time and effort it took for you to grow your hair this long. And I know how much you liked having your hair this length. This is a good thing you're doing for Gina."

"She's the brave one," Mac mumbled, leaning her head on Harm's shoulder, "not me…Besides, it'll be easier to handle for work and this way, Gina will benefit from it."

"Can I go with you, when you have it done?"

Mac pulled back to look at Harm, to assess if he was really serious.

"What? I just want to see you get it cut…I've had short hair all my life. The only thing I say to my hair-dresser is, 'I little off the top and short back and sides.' I'm just curious, okay?"

Okay," Mac conceded.

Harm had been there for her whenever she really needed him, even when she burst in unexpectedly and didn't give him much of an explanation why.

"So," Mac gave the run-down of everything in Penny's supply bag and instructions about her routine.

If you need anything, just page me and I'll call you…"

"We'll be fine," Harm told her, again.

Mac knew that the last time she'd left Penny with Harm, nothing had gone wrong, but that he had called Harriet with a couple of questions. She had pondered whether he was just too embarrassed to call her, but had dismissed the idea, quickly. Harm had probably not wanted to detract her attention from Gina, so had called the only other person he knew well, who would be able to answer his questions. She had not brought it up with Harm, she was sure that his heart had been in the right place.

OOOO

Harm was trying to secure the disposable diaper on this wriggly little scrap of humanity, wondering how these diapers were meant to fit all young babies, especially ones as small as Penny.

"Are you just sucking in or something, missy? Because you can stop that right now. I certainly don't care about the measurement of your waist or whether this diaper makes your butt look big! Hey! Wait a sec…"

Harm discovered the little tags that were attached to the side of the adhesive strips, that tore away, allowing the strip to stretch, therefore securing the diaper snugly in place.

"There! We made it! All set!"

He gave the little girl a slight jiggle, to make sure the diaper really wasn't going anywhere.

"Who changed the diapers they brought for you? Was it Aunt Mac?" he asked the little girl, conversationally, "These aren't the kind you were wearing, last week. They don't realize that it takes us a while to catch up with them, do they?"

The little girl just watched him, her mouth open.

"Yeah, I know, it's Uncle Harm who's the slow one. I bet you had that figured out before me, huh?"

The little girl wasn't saying anything, but Harm knew she was probably marveling at how clueless he was.

He replaced her little pink snuggly and settled them both on the couch to watch Sunday morning cartoons. Although she couldn't hear the words, she was fascinated by the colors and movements and could remain entranced for hours. Harm had come to realize what Mac had been talking about, when she had first told him about Penny's condition and how they acted around her. Talking to the little girl, while obviously conveying nothing to her verbally, conveyed plenty on an emotional level. When he talked, she watched his face, picked up non-verbal cues and just generally bonded with him. He had noticed that if he lay her down on his chest and began talking, while he lay down on the couch or settled back in a lounge chair, she would feel the rumbling in his chest and try to lift her head and catch sight of his face. She had become so at home with him now and he with her and he thought nothing of carrying out a continuous monologue for her benefit, much like he had with the Roberts children, before they were able to talk.

"How about we watch half-an-hour of the Coyote and the Roadrunner, then we get up and get you a bottle warmed up?"

Penny quickly maneuvered her head so that she could see Harm's face.

"Does that sound good? Huh?"

Penny gave a blink, as if to agree.

Harm chuckled and gave her a little kiss on the fore head, gently settling her head back into her original position, watching cartoons. As he stroked her baby-fine hair, he noted about how easy it would be to get used to this.

OOOO


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Okay JAG fans...Here's the latest installment. Unfortunately, I'm going to be out of the country this weekend, so don't look for any updates until Monday.

OOOO

Part 4

"I'm afraid you're just a fifty percent match for your sister, Colonel."

Mac was tired of hearing bad news from her sister's doctor.

"When considering a bone-marrow donor as a candidate for a transplant, we look for a match of six out of six genetic traits in order to have the best chances of success. Yours matched on only three…I'm terribly sorry…"

"Would you recommend that I begin searching for our mother?" Mac asked.

"The chances of a parent matching adequately are much lower than that of a full sibling. Siblings are more likely to contain a large amount of genetic similarity, you see, from both parents. But a parent will most likely have only passed on 50 percent of their genetic make up. 50 percent comes from the mother and 50 percent from the father…But I do recommend that you let your mother know about your sister's condition and if she volunteers to help, we can try testing her. In the meantime, I'm going to begin to search for an unrelated matching donor through the national registries. If we don't find one, we can always try the international registries, but I stress that the bone-marrow transplant will be our worst-case scenario. We want to hope for remission of the leukemia and the chemo-therapy is our best hope of inducing that, taking the specifics of your sister case into consideration."

Mac thanked the man, but for what, she didn't know. He was a kind man, but sometimes Mac really couldn't understand some of the medical jargon he was spouting. Mac knew this was partly to do with the fact that she was still in shock. Gina had had her worst day yet and was in a lot of pain. Mac herself was very tired, as she had spent the night at the hospital taking care of Gina. She decided that she would call doctor Rennick later, once she was back at home, so he could explain everything that she'd failed to understand.

Mac turned back to where Gina was fitfully sleeping, when she heard her little sister groan.

"Gi, are you going to be sick?" Mac grabbed the nearby kidney-shaped dish that the nurse had cleaned, not long before.

Gina shook her head and mumbled something, indicating to her mouth. Mac knew that the inside of her mouth was very sore from ulcers, a side effect of the chemo. She grabbed the numbing antiseptic gel off the counter-top, before she gently settled down next to Gina, moving the top of the electronic bed up using the remote control. Once she had Gina sitting upright, she persuaded her to open her mouth, so she could examine the lining of her cheeks and tongue. It took a minute to get Gina to describe just where was causing her the most pain, but Mac finally identified where she thought the main problem was.

She didn't see Harm at the open door behind her and Harm thought twice about knocking and disturbing her while she was taking care of her sister. He couldn't quite bring himself to turn back and go wait in the lounge.

"Open up a little wider," Mac gently instructed, flinching even as her sister did, knowing how painful it was for Gina to do so, "Okay, hold still. Let's get some gel in there, it'll take away most of the pain…"

Harm watched as Mac maternally tended to her sister, being both gentle and empathetic. He'd already known, having watching Mac with her younger sister, that there was little that Mac wouldn't do for the little sister she'd only just found, but this brought home how there was really nothing that Mac wouldn't do. She'd had the medical procedure to see if she would be able to donate bone-marrow to Gina, should it come to that and Harm knew that Mac would have, if she had been found to be a match and if Gina needed it. While she left Penny with one of two part-time nannies (a suitable full-time nanny hadn't been found yet,) Mac spent her days caring for Gina (and nights, while Gina was undergoing chemotherapy,) doing her best to comfort Gina and alleviate her pain and discomfort. She was even preparing to cut off most of her own hair, so that her sister wouldn't have to suffer the embarrassment of going without. If that wasn't love, then Harm didn't know what was.

As Mac eased the bed back down and began to rock Gina back to sleep, Harm thought that maybe he really should give them some privacy, now. He went back down the hall to the vending machine, where he got some coffee and then made himself comfortable in the oncology unit lounge.

OOOO

"Hey, I didn't know you were here," Mac found Harm, a short time later.

"I put my head around the door not long ago, but it looked like you two were sleeping."

"I took the chance to get a short nap, before I head home."

"Is Gina okay?"

"The inside of her cheeks are giving her real problems. The doctor called it mucusitis or something, said it was a side effect of the chemo, but the nurses gave us this really good numbing gel to apply. She's getting cold-sores and cracked lips really bad, but the only thing we can do is treat the pain and give it time to heal up by itself."

"Her healing will be delayed by the chemo, huh?"

"Yeah, how did you know that?"

"I did some reading, yesterday, while Penny was down for a nap. I hope you don't mind, but I was talking to my Mom about Gina and she said she'd get hold of some articles from medical journals and send them to me. I'll bring them over to you, if you want to read them…"

"Sure," Mac nodded, adding, "but just not today…I really need to get some sleep."

"Let me run you home," Harm insisted, "Don't worry about your car, I'll come back and get it later and park it by your building…"

"Thanks, Harm," Mac sighed, too tired to argue. She knew that Harm wouldn't offer if her didn't think she needed the help. And at this point, Mac knew that she really needed to allow herself to lean on somebody, too. She would be no use to Gina if she was completely burnt out.

OOOO

"So, what do you think?" Mac asked, as she walked into her sister's room in the oncology unit.

She turned around so that her sister could see her new short hairstyle from all angles.

"It's very short," Gina commented, looking unsure about whether she really liked this look on her sister.

Mac's hair was now very short, even shorter than it had been during her first few years at JAG.

"Yeah, but it's more in-line with what is expected of a military officer."

"I thought they just expected you to keep it above the collar. You always managed fine when you braided it and pinned it up."

"Yeah, but it always took so much time. And if I was away on investigation, it was a damn pain in the neck. This way I can wash, dry and go. No needing a whole towel just to dry it off, no hour every morning with the hairdryer, no twisting my fingers up in braids and no long hours spent styling it if I go out for the night."

"I suppose…" Gina nodded, but was not completely convinced.

"And do you know the best thing about getting rid of all of that hair?"

Gina was beginning to wonder whether her sister was being consciously unfeeling, talking about what a pain her hair was, when she had lost all her hair from her treatments.

"No, what?" Gina asked, anyway.

"It can go to somebody who really needs it, somebody who I know will treasure it more than I ever could, somebody who I love so much and would do anything for…In a few weeks, you'll be the proud new owner of a custom-designed hairpiece made from real hair; my hair, in close to the same shade as your own hair was. I know that your hair will come back in, once these treatments are finished, but I'm hoping that this will make it a bit more bearable in the meantime."

Gina had tears in her eyes as Mac told her all of this.

"Thank-you…You have no idea how much this means to me…how much everything you've done means to me…"

"That's what big sisters are for," Mac smiled, as she hugged her little sister.

OOOO

Mac had her arm around her little sister's waist and was leading her up to the large white house in Richmond. Harriet and Bud had been kind enough to host this little get-together, so that Mac could introduce Gina to the rest of their friends and co-workers. The two had put in a lot of time, earlier with their appearance and now, both felt better than they had in months. Gina had just finished her last session in the second round of treatment and was waiting to hear back from her doctor about her blood tests. She'd received her new wig the week before and tonight Mac had helped her style it into a style that was more evening-wear than everyday.

"You think they'll like me?" Gina had asked on the way over.

"I know they will," Mac had replied, whole-heartedly, "Sometimes in life you're lucky enough to have friends who come closer to being like family-members than many actual members of your family. These guys are like that and until you came along, I didn't think I'd ever come to love anyone like family the way that I did them, apart from our Uncle Matt. I just know they're going to love you as well as they've loved me."

And Mac was right; after being introduced to everyone at the small gathering, Gina felt so at ease with all of them, even her sister's boss, whom she'd at first considered something akin to stand-offish. Once he was with his family, she'd seen how he allowed himself to loosen up; something like how her adoptive father had been, once he came home from work and settled back into family life, each evening.

Harriet seemed very like a big-sister/best friend at the same time.

They had decided not to bring Penny along, this time, but only because she'd been rather unsettled over the past few days. They'd spent more time at home once Gina's treatment had ended, so reasoned that it must be the disruption to her schedule. Therefore, leaving her in the care of the new full-time nanny, she'd been allowed to resume her normal schedule, while the woman tried their best to adapt to Penny's schedule and not the other way around.

OOOO

"She looks like she's doing well," Harm commented, as he joined Mac at the tables where the dishes of food had been set out.

They were both focused on Gina, who was sitting beside Harriet, talking as if they were old friends.

"Yeah, she's been really good, these past couple of days…" Mac smiled, "It doesn't seem just last week that she was on her hands and knees, tossing her cookies into the toilet…"

"I think that gift you gave her probably had something to do with it," Harm pointed out, "You'd never guess that wasn't her real hair, even if you had met her before her chemo started."

"I don't think I will ever be able to pay the guy who made Gina's hairpiece what it's really worth…Seeing her like this, the way it's brought out her confidence. It's just surpassed all my expectations. She's like a different person…"

"It is nice...But I think it probably has more to do with the love that is infused in every single strand…I meant it, Mac. That really was a wonderful thing you did for your sister."

"This coming from the man who dropped everything to rescue those who are nearest and dearest to him…"

"I can't deny I'd have resigned my commission to go and find Sergei, but it never came to that…"

"It could have done, if Webb hadn't have stepped in. I know you, Harmon Rabb. You'd never willingly turn your back on somebody you care about."

"No, I couldn't."

Harm's admission was simple, but heartfelt and when Mac turned her attention back to Gina, Harm studied her closely, wondering if she had picked up on just what he'd admitted to her. She had said, 'never willingly turn your back on somebody you care about.' Those had been her exact words, yet when he'd told her 'No, I couldn't' she hadn't quite joined all of the dots. What did she think Paraguay was about? Did she think he'd resigned his commission and flew all of that way to rescue Webb and salvage his mission…maybe it had been a mistake tabling their discussion, because now, enough misunderstanding had occurred to carry her onto a totally different wavelength. But how to get her back to the fork in the road where they'd diverged?

Harm released a silent sigh. He'd long before come to terms with the fact that Mac obviously didn't understand just what he was trying to show her through his actions. He'd done as much when she'd tried to initiate a closer relationship in Australia. That all was in their past, there was nothing that could be done about it now, so he'd just have to move on and try and figure out a way to get them reconnected. If he did, there was one thing that was certain; he'd have to make sure that he or she or both of them did not screw things up. They wouldn't be able to survive another missed opportunity. Their whole future would most probably ride on this next chance, if they were lucky enough to get it. Now, Harm just had to figure out the best way he could express his feelings to Mac, to really get across how much he wanted more with her, how much he wanted to give her….

"So, what did you bring to the table, tonight?"

Mac snapped him out of his musings.

"Huh?" Harm asked, all the while wondering if she could read minds or faces.

"For the pot-luck…" Mac looked at him strangely.

"Oh! Uh, the vegetarian casserole."

"And very good it is, too, Sir," they were joined by Bud, who was sampling Harm's dish with enthusiasm, "You'd never guess that this wasn't meat in with the vegetables…What is it, Sir? Soy?"

"Quorn," Harm revealed, "It's a kind of…mushroom."

"It's very good, Sir," Bud wandered off in Harriet and Gina's direction, while Mac looked at Harm, curiously.

"Why do I get the feeling that you didn't tell Bud the whole truth?"

"Hey, he's eating the meal I cooked and he's enjoying it. I didn't want to put him off, that's all."

"Why would he be put off? Did you lie?"

"Not exactly, but if I tell you this, you have to promise me that 1. You'll tell no-one. And 2. That you'll still try my casserole."

Mac mused over this for a second, before deciding that she'd tried many strange things in the past, so nothing Harm said could really be that bad.

"Okay," she nodded, "So tell me; What are you hiding from Bud?"

"Quorn isn't derived from mushrooms, exactly…It's a type of fungus…"

"How is that different?" Mac asked.

"Well, mushroom are a type of fungus, but quorn isn't a mushroom, just another type of fungus. It's like saying that a Chihuahua is a dog, therefore a Great Dane must also be a Chihuahua ."

"And you don't want Bud to get grossed out?" Mac smiled.

"He's just enjoying it so much," Harm, shrugged, "I don't want to ruin it for him. And it's much healthier than meat…"

"Don't get into that 'animal flesh' v 'rabbit food' argument with me, stick-boy, because you will lose," Mac shot him a look that would make a boot camp drill sergeant wince, so Harm shut his mouth and grabbed a couple of plates, handing one to Mac, before they both began to help themselves to a selection of dishes that were on offer.

OOOO

Mac sighed as she sorted through the mail again. It had been nearly three weeks since she had sent a letter to the last address she had for her mother, yet nothing had come back. Not even the letter she had sent was returned, so Mac had the awful feeling that Deanne had received it, but had chosen not to write back. Mac couldn't bring herself to even consider why. In the letter, Mac had told her all about Gina and Penny and just what all three of them were going through, just now…All of them were deserving of an answer, especially Gina, but Mac knew from experience that getting any answers out of Deanne MacKenzie was a real long-shot.

Discarding the bills and junk mail for now, Mac headed into the bathroom to prepare for a shower, because she was going to head round to Gina's for dinner, that night. A short time later, she was all ready, in comfortable but casual clothes, when she was startled by a knock on her door.

"Hey…I take it you're heading out somewhere," Harm smile quickly faded, when he saw Mac's purse and car keys in her hand, "Sorry, I should have called, but on the off-chance that you might not have eaten yet, I was going to just stop by and…"

"No, I haven't eaten, actually and yeah, I was heading out, but I'd really like it if you came with me…"

"No, it's okay…." Harm went to assure her, but Mac insisted, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him into the elevator.

"Gina and I just had some take-away planned and it's not like plans can't be expanded, a little. I'm sure Gina and Penny would love to have you there…"

"But…"

"Don't argue, just get in."

Harm got into Mac's car with her, leaving his parked outside her building.

Indeed, Gina and Penny were happy to see that Mac had brought Harm along and none so much as Penny. A wide grin spread across her face and her chubby little legs kicked excitedly and she took in the familiar six-foot-plus frame.

"Uncle Harm's in the house!" Gina laughed, passing her daughter to the honored guest, who gladly took the girl and settled her in his arms.

"So, do you guys have any idea of what you want?" Gina asked them both, as she went and grabbed the cordless phone.

"Why don't we get a selection?" Mac suggested, "That way we can just share them round."

Harm nodded in agreement.

"But not too many meat dishes," Mac added, "Harm's not to fond of them."

"No problem," Gina said, "Chinese cuisine is one of those kinds where the vegetarian dishes are just a nice as the meat dishes."

She looked over the menu, immediately picking out three out of the vegetarian section. She got one meat dish to keep her sister happy, but knew through experience that meat just didn't taste or sit as well with her stomach, anymore. Her doctor had advised her that the chemo might result in food aversions, but she hadn't thought it would apply to something so broad as meat. She'd actually tried eating foods that were her weakness and were high calorie count before her chemo sessions and so far it had actually worked will. She had no appetite for them whatsoever. But the meat thing was a little more troublesome, because she still had a desire for it, but it often made her sick, now.

OOOO

"We aren't getting the improvement we'd really be hoping for, at this stage," Gina's doctor shook his head.

Again, Mac had come along to lend moral support, but ended up feeling like she was the one not strong enough to hear this news. Gina really seemed to be taking it better than she was. Instead of floundering about in confused silence, like her big sister did, Gina quickly asked, "So what is our next step, doctor? Where do we go from here?"

"Well, of course we'll have to continue with the chemo therapy. If nothing else, it's keeping the leukemia under control and at this stage, we do not want it spreading to the spine and brain. In the meantime, I will begin to start searching the national registries…"

"To find a donor?" Gina asked.

"I'm hoping that we won't need to go down that avenue, but it doesn't hurt to have safe-guards in place, just in case they are needed in the future…Now, I'd also like to talk to you about some complimentary therapies, one of which is diet-based…"

OOOO

"What the hell is that you're eating?" Harm couldn't hold back the question. Sure, he was open-minded about the things he put into his body in order to keep it healthy, but that looked just nasty.

"CAAT," Gina joked, knowing how he'd interpret her reply.

With wide eyes, he gaped at her, but she simply chuckled and let him go on thinking what he did.

Harm finally turned to Mac, who was rolling her eyes (albeit with just a hint of a smile.)

"Controlled Amino Acid Therapy," she told Harm, "C-A-A-T."

"Spoil sport!" Gina grumbled, as she headed to the bedroom to wake Penny up from her nap.

"So, it's all go again, on Monday?" Harm asked, to which Mac nodded, regretfully.

The last couple of weeks had been like a vacation, but now both sisters were facing a return-to-work, as it were.

"If you need anyone to watch Penny, next week, just stop by," Harm offered, "I know Martha's off on Sunday."

Martha was the full-time nanny. The kindly woman was very sympathetic about Gina's condition, but there was no way either Mac or Gina would accept Martha's offer to work alternate Sundays, as well.

"Thanks!" Mac gave Harm a sincere smile, "I really think Martha deserves next Sunday off, seeing as she worked a lot more Sundays than she had to, over the last couple of rounds."

"It's no problem," Harm smiled, as Gina brought Penny back through, "you know I love having her over."

OOOO

"Mac?!" Harm asked, after opening his door and getting no reaction. The pale, shaking figure in his doorway bore no resemblance to the kick-ass jarhead who was once his partner.

"Mac," his tone was quieter this time, but more insistent and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and brought her indoors. He carelessly kicked the front door closed forcefully, which proved to be a mistake, because it woke Penny. As the little girl watched them through the bars of her crib, Mac gladly buried her face in Harm's shoulder, wrapping her arms tightly around his lower ribcage.

"Hey," harm soothed her, bringing a hand to the back of her head, "Are you okay?"

Mac answered him with a shake of her head, but Harm could already feel the dampness of her tears beginning to soak into his shirt.

"Was she bad, today?" he asked, his voice showing notable empathetic pain.

Mac nodded and Harm just rocked her, dropping a kiss to her forehead.

"You stayed with her until she got to sleep?"

"Yeah," Mac sighed, sniffling, "She was exhausted and the anti-nausea medications Dr. Rennick prescribed began to kick in. But before they did…It was just…just awful, Harm…She looked dreadful and I could tell that she was in so much pain and afterwards, she was so pale."

Mac pulled away at this and Harm reached out to take her hand. He knew how restless she must have been and helpless she had to be feeling, but he wanted to make sure she knew that she and Gina weren't alone in this.

"She's going to be okay, Mac…" he told her, even as she pulled away again, "I know this is so hard for you to watch, but…"

"I'm okay, Harm," she shook her head, "I just…I really have to…"

When she didn't seem like she could finish, Harm chanced taking her hand again and this time she didn't pull away.

"What's wrong Mac?" he asked, gently, intuitively knowing that something was not right and it was more than what she had been through, today.

"I just…I really should get home," she stammered.

"You don't have to," Harm really didn't want her to be alone just now, but suddenly realized that maybe she wanted some space.

"Unless you just want to be on your own…Sometimes you just need some time alone to think things through. I could keep Penny tonight, if you want and drop her off early tomorrow, on my way to JAG…"

"No," Mac's hands began to pull at the still slightly damp patch on the front of her sweater, which Harm hadn't really noticed until now, "I really need to get changed and showered…Gina was sick on me. I tried to sponge it off as best as I could at the hospital, but if it really didn't stink then, it's bound to, now…"

"You don't need to drive all the way home to do that," Harm gave her a hug and ran a comforting hand through her hair, "Just use my shower to get clean and pass your sweater out to me. I'll put it in the wash for you."

"Are you sure?" Mac asked, "It's getting late."

She really was tempted, but was mindful that Harm had to be at work, the next day.

"Of course, it's no problem," Harm gently pushed her towards the bedroom, "Go and find a sweater or a t-shirt or something to wear out of the drawer. You and Penny are always welcome to stay here, if you need to. You must be simply exhausted after the day you've had…"

The prospect was so inviting that Mac's brain could not register any protests. She really didn't think she'd be able to face the journey back to her apartment with the baby equipment, or even just back to Gina's with Penny (where there were extra supplies and equipment, so she wouldn't have to transport the stuff here, with her.) Mac just wanted to crawl into some fluffy pjs and a warm bed…well, a sweatshirt and a comfortable-enough couch. When she went to check on Penny, she found that the child had fallen back to sleep (she had done so while watching her aunt be comforted by her new favorite 'manny,' secure in the knowledge that all was alright.) So the decision was now made and Mac grabbed a large 'Fly Navy' t-shirt and towel, retreating to the bathroom. After stripping down, she dropped the offensive-smelling sweater on the other side of the wall, but kept the rest of her clothes with her, intending to wear them with the t-shirt once she was done in the shower. When Harm came to collect the sweater (He'd decided to put his own in with it; he'd noticed that since Mac had been in his arms, it was also a little pungent,) he fully intended to avert his eyes, but there was something so appealing about the shape of her figure, even through the frosted glass-blocks.

"I'm going to run down and put this in the washer, then I'm going to make us some hot chocolate," he let Mac know.

"Thanks, Harm," Mac shouted back, above the noise of the spray of the showerhead.

By the time Mac was done, there was indeed a steamy-hot beverage waiting for her. Harm just listened as she talked about the nightmare of a day that Gina had had.

"I think that the worst thing about it for me was that I couldn't do anything to help her. I tried just holding her, but we both know how that turned out…It's been years since I got puked on by anyone other than one of Bud and Harriet's kids."

They both couldn't help but share a little chuckle at this and Mac changed the subject to something a little more cheerful; Little AJ's recent school-play. Harm quickly ran down to put the washing in the tumble dryer and when he returned, Mac asked him about Penny.

"So, did she behave for you, tonight?"

"She was as good as gold," Harm nodded, "But you know Penny; she's almost always a happy little chappy."

After describing their evening, he and Mac decided that they had better turn in for the night, since they'd both have to be up early.

"Do you mind if I borrow a sweatshirt? Just in case I get cold out there, during the night…" Mac asked, opening up one of the wardrobe door, and beginning to gather sheets to make up the couch.

"Don't squash yourself onto that couch, tonight," Harm stopped her, "I promise, I won't bite unless you hog the covers."

Mac chuckled and put the sheets back on the shelf in the wardrobe. He retreated into the bathroom to brush his teeth, while Mac got ready for bed. By the time he came back, she was already tucked into one side of the bed.

"Well, we did share a bed in Paraguay and you didn't take up all the space, then," Mac mused.

"Yeah, but I suppose that I wasn't quite the proper gentleman," Harm's statement was notably apologetic.

"Well, for my part, I promise not to ask irritating, out-of-nowhere and inappropriate-considering-the-current-situation questions when you're least expecting them and are in no condition to be dealing with them," Mac apologized, adding, "and no quips about your wife, either."

"And I promise not to bristle at your innocent jokes and avoid your questions with non-answers," Harm promised back and they hugged goodnight.

Warm and comfortable in his bed, it wasn't long before exhaustion got the better of Mac. Harm stayed awake for a while, listening to the quiet rhythm of Mac's breathing, but sleep soon came to him, too.

OOOO

Mac was the first one to wake, the next morning, when the glow of the sun was beginning to lighten up the room. Predictably, they had both rolled inwards during the night and although Harm seemed to be keeping his hands to himself, as he had promised, Mac seemed to have made herself very much at home. With a single thought of the day that was ahead of her, Mac instantly wanted to burrow further under the covers and forget the world outside these walls. Snuggled up to Harm's chest, she was deliciously warm and toasty and the covers emitted a welcoming combination of scents that included detergent, fabric softener, men's cologne and something Mac had simply come to know as 'Harm-ness.' It would greet her everyday when he came into her office (he usually did,) or if he was away on investigation, when she stopped by to leave files for him, for his return. When he had left to fly for six months, she had craftily offered to come and water his plants just so that she could still get a not-so-occasional fix. His time with the CIA had been hard, as she had been in denial after she got no replies to her messages, refusing to allow herself the slightest remembrance of her former partner or even to acknowledge it when she accidentally did so.

Allowing herself to wallow in this heady mix still felt like a treat and to be this close to the real thing, too! Harm himself hardly complained when she cuddled in closer, but then again, he was completely unconscious…Upon a whim, Mac stretched up next to him and planted a kiss on the outside edge of his jawbone. When he didn't stir, she decided to place another, which led to a third and fourth…before she knew it, Harm was waking up and she was still softly kissing his face and neck. Then he was pressing his soft lips to hers. She didn't even realize her hands were seeking him until she felt his short, silky hair between her fingers and his were stroking repeatedly through her own short, wavy locks. His warm mouth felt and tasted so good against hers and as she felt her control slip away, she wondered at how she still didn't seem to be running out of air. Kissing Harm seemed so right; it was almost an inborn reflex.

It was with great regret that Harm spoke up.

"Mmmm…Mac…I'm going to…kick myself later…but we have to…we need to stop…"

Like Harm, Mac's reply was interrupted by kisses.

"Mmmm…why? Why do we….have to stop?"

"Because it's nearly 0710…what time did you say that Martha was coming to watch Penny at Gina's house?"

"0830," Mac's reply was half-sigh, "I'm going to be very lucky to get showered and dressed and get everything of Penny's to Gina's by then…"

"This probably isn't the best time to be pondering our relationship, either," Harm was cognizant of Mac's current emotional state.

"It's not a mistake," Mac's assertion was matter-of-fact but not accusatory.

"Not at all," Harm agreed, "But we are both dealing with a lot right now, especially you."

With Mac gone and a new senior attorney not yet at Jag HQ, Harm and almost every other staff member had a full caseload.

"Don't worry about anything of Penny's; didn't you say there are extras of everything Penny needs at Gina's?"

"Yeah, but it's going to clutter up your apartment," Mac protested.

"My empty apartment," Harm pointed out, "I'll be at work; it's not going to bother me. I'll bring it by your apartment, later tonight."

"Thanks, Harm…Now we'd better get ready, or you're going to be late for work."

Harm took the shower first, while Mac got Penny up and changed into a fresh diaper and clothes. Then, while Mac showered, Harm made them both some coffee and got Penny's bottle ready.

"You're good at that, squid," Mac commented, smiling, as she came through for her coffee as Harm was feeding Penny.

Mac had by now more or less come to terms with the fact that she would probably never have a child of her own. She still got twinges of longing and disappointment every now and then, but for the most part, she was okay. The same could not be said about the prospect of Harm moving on and having children of his own, although this was a possibility (at least in Mac's mind.) Mac felt her heart break every time she contemplated it.

OOOO


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Happy holidays to all! Here's another installment for your festive enjoyment!

OOOO

Part 5

When Harm ducked his head around the doorway of Gina's room later that evening, she and Mac were stretched out on the bed watching tv.

"Hey Gi!" he greeted Mac's little sister, "How's our patient feeling tonight?"

He could still see that she was pale and listless, but it seemed that she had improved since her hellish day, the day before, at least going by Mac's description.

"Okay."

Yes, she was still groggy.

"We're just waiting for the doctor to come round," Mac told him, "He said earlier that he would discharge Gina when he made his evening rounds."

When the doctor arrived, he checked Gina's condition and duly signed her discharge papers. Mac helped her get into her street-clothes and then they wheeled her out in a wheelchair. Mac took her out to the front entrance, while Harm brought Mac's car round from the car park. Mac then waited for Harm to go and get his car and the two of them drove back to Mac's. By the time that they got there, though, Gina was fast asleep. Mac tried and was unsuccessful in waking her and Harm waved off any further attempts, just lifting the sleeping woman out of the car and into his arms.

"Just leave the supplies and stuff," he told Mac, who had completely forgotten about all of Penny's things in the back of Harm's car, ""I'll come back and bring them up."

They got Gina upstairs and Mac settled her into bed while Harm went back downstairs to move the supplies up to Mac's apartment. He had Penny and Martha with him, when he came back in, Mac having called the nanny from the car on their way home. Once Mac got Penny settled too, Harm said goodnight. He still had a stack of case-files waiting for him at home and knew that he couldn't put them off any longer, if he didn't want to be working until early in the morning. After a quick hug from Mac, he escorted Martha to her car, before getting into his own and setting off for home.

"It's too bad that Mac's not with me," he mused, with a smile, "She looks remarkably good amongst my sheets!"

Mac was having similar thoughts as she turned off the lights and climbed into bed. As much as she loved her sister, it felt better cuddling up to Harm!

OOOO

"So far, we've found no matches on any of the national registries. We've already begun searching the worldwide registries and we're hopeful that we'll find what we need to. The search is just going to take time. While this is going on, we're going to continue with the chemotherapy, at the same intensity."

"But I thought you said that the leukemia didn't seem to be going into remission, at the current intensity," Gina asked.

"It isn't," the doctor nodded, "but we did notice a slight improvement after the last two sessions. It isn't remission, but it is improvement. Sometimes leukemia just takes a while to respond in the desired fashion. And I'd be hesitant to increase the intensity of the treatment, seeing how your body struggled with the increase last time. A few more rounds and we'll see where we are, this time next month."

OOOO

Gina was scheduled to begin another round of chemotherapy on Monday, so Mac decided she had better try to find their mother before she would be needed to care for Gina at the hospital. When she told Harm about her plans, he offered his support.

"If you need any help, even if it is just somebody to talk to or bounce ideas off of, then you know that you only need ask, Mac."

He knew that Mac might want to deal with such family-issues like this on her own, but (for the moment, at least) she was not telling Gina about the trip to their Mother's last known address, so she might actually be appreciative of somebody coming with her.

"Actually," Mac noted, looking thoughtful, "If I do manage to find my mother there, I'm not sure how I'll react to her ignoring my letters and never mentioning Gina, the last time we met. At this point, we shouldn't get into any of that, because Deanne will probably run again if confronted like that. The important thing is to get her to a hospital and get her tested for bone marrow compatibility with Gina. I'd really appreciate it if you'd come along, to step in as the voice of reason, in case I'm not able to be impartial. Gina's future could depend on this meeting; it has to go well."

So it was that Harm and Mac found themselves on a plane, the next Saturday morning. Mac had done some research on the destination and had reserved a rental car ahead of time, so they only needed to buy a map and pick up their hire car before they set off into the city to look for Deanne. After locating her address, they climbed out and went into the large, upmarket block of apartments.

"It seems that my mother has learned to put down roots," Mac commented to Harm, because she could not see how her mother would choose to live here for a short amount of time, before moving on again. They saw lists up in the lobby announcing candidates for the homeowner's governing board. There was even a large communal space on each floor, complete with potted plants for tenants to socialize in and a rota for cleaning the area was posted on the far wall. When they got to Deanne's apartment, their knocks went unanswered. There seemed to be letters pushed underneath her door, although Mac couldn't see hers there.

"I get the impression she isn't here anymore," Mac told Harm.

"We could always look up the company she works for, here," Harm suggested, "Do you remember the name? We could look it up in the yellow pages."

"Yeah," Mac nodded, "I'd say that is probably our best op…"

Mac broke off as the elevator doors opened behind them and she heard somebody step out. It turned out that the woman wasn't her mother, nor was she going into her mother's old apartment, but she was going into the one next door.

"Excuse me," Mac approached the woman, "I was wondering if you know anything about your neighbour."

"Nobody's living there now, so I'm assuming you mean the woman who lived there last. Are you a relative of Deanne's?"

Mac wasn't sure just how much to divulge, so went with vague, but truthful.

"I'm her daughter, Sarah MacKenzie."

She shook the woman's hand, noticing as she tried to disguise her surprise. Her mother had obviously not told her about having children.

"My last letter to my mother went without reply, so I became concerned. How long ago did she move out?"

"It was a good six weeks ago, now," the woman commented, "It actually came as quite a surprise, she wasn't able to give the super any notice, but she did say that it was an urgent matter…"

"That's around the time that she would have received my letter," Mac commented to Harm, then said to the woman, non-chalantly, "Oh well, I guess we must have just missed one-another…"

Harm could see from the expression on her face that she didn't really believe this, though.

"Maybe there's another family member that she's staying with, or who knows where she is?" the woman suggested.

"There are very few of us about and I don't know any of her friends," Mac shook her head, "But I suppose whenever she gets to where-ever she is going, she'll let me know. I don't plan on changing my address…Thanks for your help, anyway."

"If you'd like any of that mail," the woman pointed to the envelopes jammed in the space under the door, "just ask the super; he'll let you in. Maybe you'll find something to let you know where she's gone."

"Thanks," Harm and Man bid her, before Mac steered them into the elevator.

"I'm assuming that you think your Mom got your letters?" Harm turned to ask Mac, gently.

"Without a doubt!" Mac snorted, "She had to have received the first one and she sure managed to clear out real quick! I wonder if she even read the part in my letter that said that Gina needed her help. She probably only read up to the part where I said that my long-lost little sister had found me. She never was very good at accepting responsibility for her actions."

"I'm sorry, Mac," Harm consoled, "Do you still want to go and find out where Deanne works?"

"Not particularly," Mac shook her head, "Mostly I just want to shout at her; 'Yeah, well I don't want you either.' But this isn't about me. I'm doing this because Gina needs it. I guess we should keep looking…"

But it wasn't to be, because her workplace, rather former workplace, had no idea where she might be. They had been as surprised as her neighbors when Deane had turned in her resignation, citing 'family problems.' The flight back found Mac feeling like she had been kicked in the stomach.

OOOO

"So how did your investigation go?" Gina asked Mac, as they got her checked into her hospital room.

"Uh, yeah…" Mac hesitated, knowing she couldn't keep it a secret anymore, "About that…I actually wasn't on an investigation for work…I went to try and find Mom…"

"So it was an investigation, of sorts…" Gina joked, asking, "So, did you find her?"

Mac shook her head, "No, she seems to have moved and she didn't leave a forwarding address. But I'll keep searching…"

"Okay," Gina shrugged, but Mac could tell that the attitude was faked.

They were interrupted as the nurse came in to take Gina's blood-pressure and heart-rate. Then, of course, would come the blood-tests so that her cell-counts could be compared to something, after this round of her treatment was finished. The conversation got dropped as both sisters prepared for what they knew lay ahead.

OOOO

"Good evening, Colonel," Martha greeted Mac, in the kitchen, "How did Gina get on? Is she settled for the night?"

"She fell asleep about 40 minutes before I left," Mac nodded, "The sickness left her just about as exhausted as ever, but I think she was better able to deal with it, this time."

"Penny has been bathed and is ready for bed, but I think she's deliberately keeping herself awake, so she can see you."

Mac hurried into the bedroom and went to Penny's crib, which was pushed up next to Gina's bed. They would be staying here tonight, because although Mac's place was nearer to the hospital, Gina wanted her daughter to have stability and be raised in her own home, as much as possible.

"Hi there, Penny!" Mac exclaimed, when Penny looked up at her approach.

Harriet had suggested to try introducing some simple signs to her, for everyday things and Gina had given her agreement, so Mac had got some books and a video on ASL from the library. Now, as she talked to Penny, Mac included some simple signs for objects, shapes, colors and people, so Penny got used to seeing them. Of course, Penny's fine motor skills were nowhere near developed enough for her to sign, but Mac reasoned that children with hearing were exposed to words before they could speak themselves, so this was just the same thing.

"Knock, knock," a visitor announced himself as Mac lay playing with Penny on the bed, "Is this a private party, or can anyone play?"

"Penny, look!" Mac indicated, signing and with a nod of her head, "It's Uncle Harm!"

Penny didn't yet understand the signs or connect the last ones with her new 'uncle,' but was thrilled when she discovered that it was Harm standing in the doorway. After showering the little girl with attention, Harm turned at least part of his attention to Mac.

"How's Gina doing, tonight?"

"She's sleeping comfortably," Mac told him, "The treatment and the sickness took a lot out of her, but she was a lot more upbeat than last time."

"You're home a lot earlier than you were, last time," Harm nodded.

"Has Martha left?" Mac asked, assuming she had been the one who let Harm in.

"Yeah," Harm nodded, again, "She said she'll be here by 0730, tomorrow morning. So, are you looking forward to returning to work?"

Mac hadn't officially been granted full leave from work, as headquarters was very busy, this time of year, but she and the General had agreed that as long as she needed to care for her sister, she would be able to stay away from work. However, if the office really needed her, he'd let her know and she'd be there, at least for the morning. This time away would not affect or delay her prospects of advancement in her career, in any way. Tomorrow, Mac would make sure that Gina was okay in the hospital, go into work by about 1100hrs, then pick her sister up and take her home around 1800. This flexible agreement meant that Mac could still work and take care of her family at the same time and Cresswell wouldn't be short of one senior attorney with all of the cases that were flooding in.

That evening, Mac taught Harm some of the signs she had been using with Penny and then once the baby was asleep for the night in her crib, Mac helped Harm with case files he'd intended to work on at home. Having spent so much time away, Mac was able to practice the skills she'd feared might have become a tad rusty. Not since high-school had she spent so much time doing something other than practicing law. Even in college, she had gained experience during out-of-class and vacation-time by volunteering as a clerk at a private law firm.

"I really think it will be good to get back to work," Mac nodded, "As much as I love Penny and Gina, I do miss JAG and being in the courtroom."

"The General joked today about no longer being swamped with Navy squids," Harm smiled, "I really think he's looking forward to you coming back!"

OOOO

Gina's doctor looked serious as he outlined the results of Gina's latest blood tests. This time, the initial progress hinted at by her last two results seemed to have halted.

"At this time, I would normally suggest to a patient in this condition, either an increase in strength of the chemotherapy, or a bone-marrow transplant. But Gina, knowing how you're body reacts to the treatment at higher intensity, I really don't think it will do any good. If anything, it will only weaken you, further. I think our best option is to continue with the chemotherapy at the present intensity, until we find a suitable match for a transplant."

Gina and Mac were both shocked at how soon this had come about. They had been told only a few months ago that a transplant would be a last option, if remission couldn't be induced. Now that they were here, it seemed very daunting.

"So remission without having the transplant at this stage isn't going to happen, even with all of the other therapies?" Gina asked.

"I'd say that the likelihood of that happening is very small," the doctor confirmed, "Somewhere below the 5 percent mark.

Mac cringed at his words, but mostly at the awful statistic that she had heard a lot of, lately; one that seemed to have also robbed her of her chance to have children of her own.

"Don't misunderstand me," the doctor hastened to add, "With the transplant, Gina's chances are good; above 80. But our problem seems to be with finding a donor. Even though you are full sisters and share many traits, many of your genetics are just not a match, including your blood-type. One of you must have inherited your blood type from your mother, the other from your father. It's just unfortunate, I'm afraid."

"Well, we aren't in contact with our mother and we can't find her," Gina commented, "and our father is deceased…"

"What about our maternal uncle?" Mac suddenly asked.

The doctor considered it for a second.

"Well, normally the further away the relative, the smaller the chances of a match, but in this case I'd say to run the test. Small chances are still not hopeless…"

"Our Uncle Matt is currently an inmate at Fort Leavenworth Penn.," Mac broached, "and he's over the age of 60…Those factors aren't going to be a problem, are they?"

"They might not be, especially not the fact that your uncle is doing time," the doctor shook his head, "I know one of the chief medical practitioners at Fort Leavenworth. I'll get in touch with him this afternoon to run some tests…and as to his age; age may not be a disqualifying factor. If he's a match and he's in good shape and general health, then he should still be able to donate. I assume he was a military man?"

"For most of his life," Mac nodded, "and he's always taken good care of his health."

"Then I'll ask that those blood and tissue samples be taken after running some simple tests to gage fitness and health and for all the results to be sent to our labs for analysis," the doctor smiled.

Gina and Mac were more relieved, at this viable way forward.

OOOO

"So as soon as they find a donor, the transplant will go ahead, ASAP," Mac was explaining to Harm, Bud and Sturgis, as they all ate lunch in the canteen.

"Maybe you should suggest holding a bone-marrow drive at JAG, Ma'am," Bud suggested, "I know that Admiral Chegwidden was keen to hold a blood-drive, soon after my recovery and the hospital told me that they were helped immensely by the donations."

This was indeed a very good idea; everyone knew just how vital donated blood had been in keeping Bud alive, following his accident.

I'll definitely suggest it to him, Bud," Mac nodded, "Thanks!"

OOOO

Three months later, having had a very successful drive at JAG HQ (after which three staff members had been contacted to donate bone-marrow); after testing Matt O'Hara (who had indeed the health of somebody nearly half his age); after more searching for Deanne across many different states; after completing a search of worldwide bone-marrow registries, Gina's doctor announced that still no match had been found for her.

"But new donors are joining registries every day," he added, "A donor may come along as soon as tomorrow."

Gina and Mac knew just how serious this situation was, though. The fact that no match had yet been found meant that Gina had not only a rare blood-type, but also a very rare tissue-type. The chances of somebody in the world being a match were small, but they also knew that the chances of that rare person joining the registry within the next few months were almost miniscule.

"Let's just continue with the chemo and the complimentary therapies, then we'll see where we stand," the doctor tried to encourage them.

OOOO

"Is she okay?" Harm asked from the doorway, waiting to be invited into Gina's hospital room.

"She's asleep," Mac beckoned him inside, tiredly, "but she has not had an easy day."

"I thought Gina might appreciate a visit," Harm brought Penny into view, from where he'd been holding her out of view, mainly as a precaution, in case her mother was still very ill.

"I'm sure she'll be very glad to see you guys," Mac nodded, gently nudging Gina.

"Hmmmm?" Gina mumbled, sleepily.

"You've got some visitors, Gi," Mac's words quickly registered and Gina searched right down deep for some remaining strength when she caught sight of her daughter.

"Hey there, baby!" She smiled, supporting Penny against her, where Harm placed the child, "Have you been a good girl for Uncle Harm and Auntie Martha?"

She didn't have the strength to hold up her daughter, just now, so this would have to do. Luckily, Penny was glad enough to see her Mommy to miss the subtle signs showing just how ill she was.

They were soon joined by a nurse who was responsible for monitoring Gina's condition, who was new to the oncology unit at this hospital.

"I'm Jessie Fernandez," the woman introduced herself to Harm and Mac, "You must be the sister and friend Gina's been telling me about. And this little angel must be Penny!"

"Yes," Mac nodded, shaking the woman's hand, "It's nice to meet you, Jessie. How long have you been working in oncology?"

"Nearly eleven years, in total," Jessie told them, "but only the last few days at this hospital. Most of my career, I've been at UCLA in Los Angeles, but my husband was moved here last spring and since then, I was attempting to get a job in DC, so we weren't on two separate coasts. Our daughters are in New York at college and our son still lives at home, so this move has been ideal to bring us all closer together."

"I used to live in LA, myself," Gina smiled, having just enough energy to make small-talk with her new nurse, "and Penny was actually born at UCLA! Talk about coincidences…"

"That's amazing!" Jessie agreed, adding, "Did you begin your treatment there, Gina?"

"I was diagnosed there," Gina told her, "but then my doctor told me about the stellar reputation of the Lombardi Center and we agreed that it was too good a chance to pass up, seeing as my sister lived here, too."

Jessie agreed that this was indeed one of the best facilities in the country, but soon excused herself to go check in with doctor Rennick.

"I'd better go see Doctor Rennick, he's asked me to keep him apprised of your condition…Would it be okay for me to borrow this little cutie?" Jessie asked, stroking Penny's fine blond hair, affectionately, "I'm sure that Doctor Rennick and the rest of the nursing staff would love to see her."

Gina nodded in approval, not thinking much of it. The only time her doctor had seen the baby had been her first consultation with him, months ago. She had gained the impression that, despite his mostly serious manner, he was actually very fond of children, having six of his own whose pictures were all proudly displayed on his office walls.

As she left the group to chat amongst themselves, she proceeded past the other nurses at the front desk and into the elevator. Once she reached the sixth floor, she crossed to the north wing, where the offices were situated. It took her a few tries to find the right hallway, being only her sixth day and only her second time in this area, but she rapped crisply on the door once she did. After receiving authorization, she entered asking, "Excuse me, Doctor, but you asked me to keep you informed about Ms. MacKenzie's condition…"

"Yes, how is she?" Stephen Rennick asked, eagerly.

"I'm becoming more concerned," Jessie shook her head, "Her blood pressure is dropping and her heart-rate is a little erratic. Her blood tests would suggest that her condition is worsening, but not rapidly so…However, she did mention something that made me think…"

"What is that?" Rennick asked, taking baby Penny from the nurse and seating her on his knee.

"She told me that Penny was born at UCLA," Jessie proceeded, "I used to work there myself, so I know about some of the experimental work that was going on there…I also know that no match has been found for a bone-marrow donor for Gina. Dr. Rennick, for the past few years, work has been going on at UCLA into the properties of cord-blood."

"Umbilical cord blood?" Rennick paused playing with Penny to look at Jessie, "I'm aware that cord-blood has been used in many leukemia patients as a substitute for bone-marrow…"

"And pregnant patients there are routinely asked to donate, both to use for scientific testing and in order to help other patients at the hospital," Jessie added, "I think it could prove useful to contact UCLA and see if they can help find a match for Gina, since we haven't found a match elsewhere."

"Yes, that would be a potentially helpful avenue of inquiry," Rennick nodded, "Give me a few days to check into that then I will let Ms. Mackenzie know. I wouldn't want to get her hopes up, in case they weren't able to help us."

"I understand, Doctor."

Jessie took Penny back and went back to the oncology unit, while Doctor Rennick turned to his computer. Using his medical clearance, he was able to access the UCLA cord-blood bank, but was unable to find any donor by the name of Gina MacKenzie.

With a sigh, Rennick massaged his temples in agitation. Just once, he wanted something to go right for his unfortunate patient. Were anything to happen to either him or his wife, God forbid, something to put them in the same condition, he'd worry immensely about his children. Five of them had already left home; two of which were still in college and his youngest was a senior in high-school, but he'd still worry about how they'd all cope. And this poor young woman would likely not see her child grow up, if a donor did not come through for her within the next few months. Her leukemia was aggressive and the chemo no longer appeared to be keeping the disease under control.

For a minute there, a real spark of hope had ignited inside him…Still, he had other cord-blood banks to check with, worldwide. Maybe one of them might have what his patient so desperately needed. After doing a search for similar facilities, he compiled a list and began the long process of contacting their administrators.

OOOO


	6. Chapter 6

AN: A very merry Christmas to all jaggies, everywhere! Hope Santa brought you lots of nice presents! Here's another for the pile! Enjoy!

OOOO

Part 6

"Are you feeling up to some dinner, tonight?" Jessie asked Gina, once her sister, daughter and friend had left.

I don't know if I'll be able to hold it down," Gina shook her head, tiredly.

"Well, I'd suggest you try," the nurse encouraged, "Even if it does make you sick, you may keep some of it down and that'll only help you."

Gina eventually agreed and to her own surprise it stayed down.

"When you were at UCLA," Jessie broached, carefully, "were you asked to take part in any studies?"

"No," Gina replied, "not that I can remember…What kind of studies do you mean?"

"While I was there, I knew staff who were involved in experiments with umbilical cord blood," Jessie told her, 'I haven't heard from them, so I've been wondering how the initial tests went. I was just curious about whether you were asked to take part, considering how Penny was born there, around when the tests were going on."

"Penny was very sick when she was born," Gina shook her head, "And I was an absolute mess. I had a hard labor and I don't even remember Penny's first few days, clearly. I was probably still in shock from being told that my baby would have to under-go surgery so soon. Since she was ill, they probably wouldn't have wanted her cord-blood. Wouldn't it be a risk to take it from a baby in her condition?"

"They probably wouldn't have wanted to bother you, most likely," Jessie shook her head, "Harvesting cord-blood has no risk to the baby, but not everybody agrees with using stem-cells found in cord-blood."

"It's a shame I didn't know about it," Gina shrugged, "I'd have liked to take part, especially if it had helped someone else. I'm in the situation now that I can appreciate how valuable pioneering treatment can be. Maybe in the future, people will really be helped by that experimental work."

"Yes, I hope so," Jessie nodded in agreement, but Gina had no idea of the deeper meaning of Jessie's wish.

OOOO

Soon after her next treatment, Gina's condition worsened to the degree that Dr. Rennick decided to keep her in the hospital permanently. As the days passed, without good news from either the bone-marrow or cord-blood registries that Rennick had contacted, he could see his patient's condition getting more desperate.

One afternoon, he went to check her condition, while she had a group of friends visiting.

The JAG crew had all come to lend support, knowing that Harm and Mac were fighting to hold everything together themselves. Harriet had found Mac in the process of breaking down in one of the conference rooms, the day before. She'd offered her support, but had learnt just how grave Gina's condition was.

"I'm so worried that they aren't going to find a donor," Mac had confessed through tears, "Her doctor says to stay hopeful, but how can I, when I see Gina getting so weak and no is donor coming forward to help her?"

"No matter what," Harriet had consoled her, "don't give up hope. Miracles have a way of showing up when they're least expected…"

Harriet had roped Sturgis and Jen into the visit and all of them brought balloons to brighten up Gina's room and remind her that everyone was pulling for her, more than she probably realized, feeling as sick as she did.

"I'm sorry to disturb you all," Dr. Rennick entered, "but I'm going to need to check on my patient. I'll only be a few minutes then you can all come back in."

As everyone filed out through the door, Rennick scooped Penny from a person passing.

"This little ray of sunshine, however, has special permission to stay!"

He sat her beside her mother, in the bed, then turned his attention to his stethoscope, monitoring Gina's breathing.

"Seems that babies get special privileges, here!" Harm joked with Mac and Gina, before they too left.

"She's my best medicine," Gina called to them, laughing.

None of them, however realized just how helpful this little baby would turn out to be to her mother.

"Nurse Fernandez tells me that Penny here was born at UCLA," Rennick mentioned, as he began to take Gina's blood-pressure.

"Yes," Gina nodded, "she received much of her initial medical care there and I made sure that she wasn't likely to have any pressing health problems, before I made the move here."

"You moved to be closer to your sister?"

"Partly. I'd heard so much about the Lombardi center and with all of the treatment I was facing, I knew I would need some help. Learning about my sister was a blessing in disguise."

"You didn't grow up together?"

"No, I was adopted soon after birth. I only learned who my biological parents were after Penny was born and I was diagnosed."

"So is McKenzie your birth name or your adoptive name?"

"My birth name; I changed it, after I found my sister, but I kept my given name. Mac encouraged me to do what I thought best, but in terms of medical care, it was easier for her to gain my medical power-of-attorney if we had the same surname."

"And what was your adoptive name?"

"Gina Moreno."

"Are your adoptive parents still with us?"

"They died in a car accident, before Penny was born."

"My sympathies…I'm sure it hit you hard."

"It was devastating, especially considering all that was to come, soon after. But Mac and all of her friends have been great. I don't know what I'd have done without them."

Rennick then left her to rest and let all of her friends back in. He was a doctor, but he knew how much help a firm support-base could be to a patient with as serious an illness as Gina had.

He went on with his rounds, making an urgent mental note to check back with the UCLA cord-blood bank registry, once his rounds were finished. If she only changed her surname after she'd come to DC, then there was still a chance she had banked her baby's cord-blood there.

He dropped by the nurse's station first, though, to find Jessie Fernandez.

"Nurse Fernandez, could you drop by my office, before you leave, tonight? I had some thoughts this afternoon about one of our patients that I'd like your opinion on…"

"Of course, Doctor." Jessie nodded, her heart picking up pace.

All through the day, Jessie wondered if he had heard some good news. She prayed that he had.

OOOO

"Did you check with UCLA, doctor?"

"I did," Rennick nodded, "But they had no record of a donor by the name of Gina MacKenzie…"

Seeing the woman deflate, he also added, "but then I learned, today, that Gina recently changed her surname to that of her sister, to expedite the process of approving her sister to become her medical power-of-attorney holder. It seems that while her sister was kept within the biological family, Gina was not. She was adopted soon after birth by a childless couple by the name of Moreno…"

As he talked, he accessed the UCLA cord-blood registry again and began to type.

"She went by the name Moreno when Penny was born?" Jessie asked, hopefully.

"Yes," Rennick nodded, "and I want to ask Gina if she remembered anyone requesting her to donate Penny's cord blood during her time at UCLA."

"She told me she didn't remember it," Jessie shook her head, "but Penny was a sickly baby and she said she didn't take a lot of information in at that time…Are you able to check back with UCLA, Doctor? I'm told their registry is one of the biggest in North America. They add many donors, every week."

Rennick's computer emitted a loud beep and Rennick smiled, as he turned the screen so that Jessie could see it.

OOOO

Jessie was smiling brightly as she made her way back into the oncology unit.

"You get good news, honey?" One of the other nurses asked her.

"The very best kind," Jessie told her, before proceeding to Gina's room.

Gina's sister was still with her, though all of the other guests had gone, including Gina's daughter.

"Dr. Rennick asked me to let you know that he'll be down to see you, soon," she told the sisters, before going to clock out and call her husband. She wouldn't go home just now and she had to let him know that she might be here for a while, yet. She didn't want to leave until Dr. Rennick gave the news to his patient. He'd intimated that this was Gina's very best hope, one with substantially better chances than waiting for a bone-marrow donor to come forward.

OOOO

Dr Rennick was whistling cheerfully, as he made his way downstairs, half-an-hour later.

"Good evening, ladies," he greeted the nurses at the nurse's station.

They all internally marveled at his unusually happy demeanor and instantly knew something wonderful was about to happen. Only Jessie knew just what that was.

He invited Jessie to come with him, to see their patient, for he knew just how much young Ms. MacKenzie had come to mean to her and he really wanted her to share in this, for it had been all because of her insight and ingenuity.

"Good evening, Ms. MacKenzie, Ms. MacKenzie…"

"Hi, Doc!" Gina responded, "How's things?"

"Well, I've had some good news, today," Rennick smiled.

"A bone-marrow donor for Gina?" Mac couldn't help but get her hopes up.

"Not exactly," Rennick shook his head, "but I did get my hands on the file of a patient who can help her. This patient has made an invaluable donation that will help Gina, but not with bone-marrow…With cord-blood…"

"Cord-blood?" Gina asked, "You mean umbilical cord blood?"

"Yes," Rennick nodded, "it seems that when her child was born, this patient donated the blood from her baby's umbilical cord, which was then frozen and stored in a cord-blood bank. This patient's name was Gina Moreno…"

"I did?" Gina looked confused.

"According to this form that UCLA faxed over to me," Rennick held up the fax with Gina's signature on it, 'You don't remember doing so?"

"No, I don't remember much of those weeks," Gina shook her head, "but I sure am glad that I did! Penny's cord-blood is a match for me?"

"Yes, an 80 match," Rennick nodded, "in fact this match is better than is essentially required. Now, I'm not going to pretend that cord-blood is any better than bone-marrow for getting the job done. In fact, it will probably take longer for the donor cells to graft and begin to reproduce in your body, but cord-blood cells actually have a few properties that will help in your recovery, which bone-marrow cells don't have."

"What are they?" Mac and Gina both asked, at the same time, then Gina asked, "And I thought that a donor had to be a complete match..."

"Well, when we are testing bone-marrow for compatibility, it has to match on six out of six genetic traits. With cord blood, however, only a 50 percent match is required. Penny is an 80 percent match, which is fantastic…And although much smaller amounts of donor cells are used and these will take a longer amount of time to graft, the cells coming from cord blood are essentially much purer than those from bone-marrow."

"And that's good?" Gina asked.

"It is," Rennick told her, "Do you remember how I told you, when you first came to see me, that going through a bone marrow transplant is essentially more risky than trying chemo therapy first?"

"Yes, you said that the chemo might send the leukemia into remission, without having to resort to the transplant."

"Yes and do you remember why the transplant is so risky?"

"Because it opens the body up to infection? But won't I still be open to infection, with the cord-blood transplant?"

"Yes, but you'll face fewer set-backs in your recovery, afterwards. The thing about stem cells is that they're coming from an essentially new person. A baby in the uterus has faced far fewer pathogens than a donor who is twenty, thirty, forty-plus years old. Every time our bodies are infected by germs, they generate antigens to fight these germs. These antigens then remain attached to the cells that fight off disease and when these are transplanted into a person with leukemia or other blood disorders, they can cause problems later on. Did you understand what I said about graft-versus-host disease?"

"Kind of," Gina nodded, "it's when the new donor cells have grafted, right? They can turn on the host body, thinking that it's an invader…That's why patients need to take anti-rejection drugs?"

"Yes!" Rennick exclaimed, obviously finding the specifics much more exciting than Gina or Mac thought they should be!

"This might turn out to be something as benign as skin problems, such as gout. Unfortunately, often it is severe enough to result in full-blown rejection or organ failure. Some patients are on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their life. But the beauty of cord-blood cells is that they are so pure. Those antigens attached to the surface of bone-marrow cells, the ones that results in such post-operative problems aren't present on the surface of cord-blood stem cells. Cord-blood stem cells are essentially just out of the production factory!"

Now Gina and Mac could see why Rennick was so excited.

"So Gina won't need anti-rejection drugs?" Mac asked.

"She will," Rennick answered, "at least as a precaution, but I foresee very few problems with GVHD, if any."

Mac's head was spinning. Harriet was right. Life really could change in the blink of an eye!

"So how soon are we going to go ahead with the transplant?" she asked.

"Our cord-blood is being thawed and prepared right now then it will be on the first plane out of Los Angeles. I will travel personally to Dulles and collect it. I should be back here by…2am. While I'm on my way here, Nurse Fernandez has offered to accompany you to your last chemo and a radiation session, both of which will destroy your own bone marrow. The donor cells from your daughter will be infused into your body early tomorrow morning and after that, you'll be quarantined in a sterile room, while we leave your new cells to graft and reproduce, inside your body. After about five weeks, you should be well on the way to recovery…"

"This is amazing!" Gina exclaimed, "I didn't expect it to happen so fast! Mac, do you think you could call Harm and get him to bring Penny back? I want to see her before this happens…I think I have a lot to thank her for! After all, she is giving me back the life that I gave to her, nearly a year ago!"

Mac nodded and made her way out to the pay-phones, but intending to make more than one call.

Inside Gina's room, once doctor Rennick left to call the staff at UCLA and see just how things were progressing, Gina continued to celebrate with the nurses.

"Hi, you've reached Commander Harmon Rabb…" Harm's cellphone answer service picked up, "I can't take your call just now…"

Mac breathed a sigh of relief when Harm picked up.

"H'lo? I'm here…" his voice came over the line.

"Harm, I need you to bring Penny back down here…" Mac told him, quickly, "as soon as you can…"

"Is something wrong?" Harm sounded alarmed, but Mac quickly put him at ease.

"No, but something amazing has happened! Doctor Rennick has found a match for Gina and it's better than we could ever have hoped for. Gina's going to go into her last chemo and radiotherapy session tonight to kill off her bone marrow, while Rennick goes to collect the stem cells…"

"Stem cells?" Harm asked, 'I thought it was bone marrow she needed?"

"Stem cells are exactly what we need and it's going to help Gina without the need to wait for a bone-marrow match at all…Just get back down here…"

"I'm with Bud and Harriet, just now. We went out for coffee. Can they come, too?"

"Harm, you can bring Bud, Harriet, the rest of JAG, the guards on duty downstairs and all of the LA Dodgers, if you really want to…I don't think Gina's going to be any happier than she is at the moment. The most important visitor is Penny…"

"Shoot, I knew I had left something behind in the car…"

"HARM!"

"Kidding…Okay, I'm signing the check as we speak. We'll be right there…"

Harm hung up and Mac made a call to General Cresswell, who was indeed very happy to know that a match had been found and that Gina's transplant was going ahead, at last. He turned up twenty minutes later, along with his wife and the rest of the JAG staff.

The celebration went on until 0100, when the nurses announced that it was late and that Gina needed to be prepped for the chemo. They would be allowed to stay for a while, even though visiting hours were over, as long as they stayed in the waiting room. Mac would be allowed to stay with Gina, but she'd have to scrub in and don a gown and mask after Gina went in for the chemo, which would take place once Dr. Rennick called to say that he was on the chopper back to the hospital with the donor cord-blood.

OOOO

"You okay?" Mac asked her little sister, as the nurses pushed her bed along the hallway towards the elevator.

Dr. Rennick had called to say he had received the cord-blood and was about to board the helo that would bring him back to the hospital.

So Gina had now undergone her last session of chemo and was on her way to receive radiotherapy, which would complete the job of killing off her own bone marrow. Not only would this kill the defective leukemic cells, but also her healthy cells, too. This was important, because they didn't want Gina's cells still around when they began infusing Penny's cord blood cells into her. They could kill off any donor cells that made their way into Gina's system, if they were still around.

"I'm fine," Gina nodded, still a little numb about what had happened over the past few hours, "It all seems just a little anti-climactic…This all happened so quickly and was a big shock and all…but now, it seems just…so…"

"Simple?" Mac anticipated. She'd been thinking the same thing.

"Yeah, kinda!" Gina snorted, "I know that sounds awful but…"

"But it does seem that way, doesn't it?" Mac laughed, too.

"After all that's happened since my initial diagnosis," Gina agreed, "All of those blood tests, all of those medications I've been on, all of the complementary therapies, all of the chemotherapy sessions…Now, once I've finished with one last session of radiotherapy, I'm going to get an IV inserted, receive some cord blood and then just sit and wait it out…This time yesterday, I felt like death warmed up and the prospect of finding a match for me after months of fruitless searching seemed too unlikely to even consider."

"Miracles can happen, in a blink of an eye," Mac smiled, silently adding a thankful prayer.

"You're not kidding!"

Mac had to wait outside while Gina went in for the radiotherapy, but afterwards was able to join Gina in her new room in the isolation unit. Once her own bone marrow died Gina would be susceptible to infection and to give the new cells the best chance to graft, Gina had to be kept away from other patients. Her room was sparse, but the most notable item present was the special filtration system. The nurses also informed Gina that they'd be pumping her with antibiotics and transfusing her with donor blood cells and platelets, since the risk of infection and internal bleeding was a potentially serious one that they intended to prevent.

"Don't you worry about a thing, Honey," Jessie gave her a warm smile, "The doctor has everything well in hand. He arrived back a short time ago and is now overseeing the final preparation of the donor cord blood."

OOOO

"This will only take a few hours to infuse into you," Doctor Rennick told them, as the bag of cord blood was connected up to Gina's IV.

Gina watched the dark liquid slowly move down the tube and into the catheter that was inserted into her neck.

"And how long will it be before we know if it has grafted?" Gina asked.

"We'll keep a close eye on your cell counts and once your neutrophil counts go up, we'll know that it has taken hold. Every case is individual, but most of the time engraftment takes between one and three weeks."

"And can my sister still stay with me all that time?"

"Well, it depends on your condition at any given time, but yes, as long as she stays healthy and scrubs in beforehand. Of course, we'll have to keep an eye on her condition, too, because we don't want her bringing any pathogens in to you. In order for her to stay healthy, it's important that she take care of herself, which means getting plenty of sleep and eating well."

"Consider it done, Doctor," Mac smiled, squeezing her sister's hand.

While Mac wanted to spend as much time with her sister during this daunting period, she knew that in order to best safe-guard her sister's health, she had to safe-guard her own, now more than ever.

"I'm going to check on my other patients, but once I'm done, I'll be back to see how the infusion went and then tell you more about what will be happening inside your body over the next few weeks. Then, you can ask any questions you may have. Is that okay?"

"Yes, Doctor, that sounds fine…"

"Good…Why don't you try to get some sleep, in the meantime?"

Indeed, now that the initial rush of adrenaline was wearing off, Gina really did feel kind of sleepy. With Mac's assistance, she got settled down in bed.

Over the next few hours, nurses were in and out periodically, but always wearing protective masks and gowns. It was just the beginning of what would be four long weeks of waiting.

OOOO

Because Gina slept much of the morning and afternoon of her transplant, it was the evening before she was awake, when her doctor came to check on her.

"How are you feeling, Ms. MacKenzie?" he asked, from behind his mask.

"Okay," Gina didn't have the strength to give a full nod, "Just quite tired."

"That's perfectly normal," Doctor Rennick told her, "I suspect it's only partly because of the transplant. That initial high soon drops, after preparation for the transplant begins."

"How long have I slept?" Gina asked Mac, who was still settled in the same position as when Gina went to sleep.

"About eleven hours, now," Mac told her, smoothing a hand over her little sister's head.

"I feel as if I only closed my eyes a few minutes ago," Gina shook her head, gently.

With Mac's assistance, she sat up in bed, ready to hear what Doctor Rennick had to say.

"From what the nurses have told me, your transplant went very well. It seems that a good amount of cord-blood was harvested when your daughter's umbilical cord and placenta were sent to the bank. Because of that, the infusion lasted nearly five hours and larger amounts of donor cells have been linked to faster grafting times, in preliminary studies of patient cases. The cord-blood cells went right into the artery in your neck and from there they will make their way into the bone marrow space, where they will graft. At first, we will be checking for success by looking for levels of neutrophils in your blood, then for all the other types of blood cells that are produced by the bone marrow."

"What exactly are neutrophils, Doctor?" Mac asked and Gina was glad that she had thought to do so, for she didn't feel like she could muster the energy, just now.

"They are a type of white blood cell," Rennick told them, "one that is the most abundant and is therefore an essential part of the immune system. They are one of the white cells that respond to infection and when we see that your neutrophil counts are rising, we know that your immune system is beginning to repair itself."

"Okay," Gina nodded for Rennick to continue.

"We will also keep a close eye on your other cell counts, because when they begin to rise, we will know that your new bone marrow is in place and working effectively. When all of these counts are back to normal, we will breathe a big sigh of relief, because that will mean that the chances of infection and internal bleeding will have gone down. Red blood cells carry oxygen to supply the body tissues, platelets allow clotting and thus prevent internal bleeding and as we have already discussed, white blood cells prevent and combat infection. We will work hard to make sure that your road to full recovery will be a smooth one. Keeping a positive attitude will also do wonders for your recovery, but it may take some time for us to see results.

Until then, we will be transfusing some donor blood into you, so that your body remains as healthy as possible, until the donor cells graft and begin to do their thing."

"Is there any risk with giving the Gina the donor blood?" Mac asked, concerned.

"Any donor blood we use will be treated," Doctor Rennick assured them, "to make sure we don't put anything into Gina other than what will help her. Donor white blood cells will certainly help her broken-down immune system, just until her own has recovered. At this point, we're not sure how often she will need these transfusions; it is very dependent on the individual concerned."

"And what about other complications?" Mac asked again, briefly, now that she had noticed how tired Gina was beginning to look, "How many are we looking at and what can we do to prevent them?"

"As I mentioned earlier, with bone marrow transplants, the biggest risk after grafting is rejection, then Graft-versus-Host disease. But the risks of these are much smaller with cord-blood transplants, because the cells involved are essentially so new and pure. There is also a risk of pneumonia in the first 100 days after the transplant, so patients are routinely put on a long course of strong antibiotics, to safe-guard their health while their own immune system is still being rebuilt. And as leukemia patients have often undergone many treatments prior to their transplant, there is always the risk to the health of their liver. But considering what your sister has been through over the past few months and as her chemotherapy was kept at a lower intensity, I'm happy to say that her liver is functioning very well. Of course, not quite at normal levels, but very well considering. The liver is also one of the most resilient organs of the body, so it should recover full functioning within half a year…"

Mac looked over and saw that her sister was now asleep, but looking back at her doctor, he didn't appear to take it personally.

"I'll be back at many points to check on your sister, so don't worry about taking all of these details in," he smiled in understanding, "I'm sure she's going to have more questions for me over the next week and very few people with a non-medical profession ever really learn the jargon that comes with such matters. I can explain this all at any time needed. But I do need to inform you of the risks of the most potentially dangerous complication; rejection. There is the risk of rejection with any transplant, but cord blood transplantation has one of the best success records, despite its comparative infancy. As I said earlier, only a fifty-percent match is needed for a cord-blood transplant, but the fact that your niece is more than an eighty percent match is very good indeed. Also, being donor cells from a relative and a young one at that also bodes more positively than if they were from an older stranger. Your sister's case was one of the most aggressive, yet as hopeful as I have ever seen. I can only promise that my staff and I will be there every step of the way, helping in your sister's recovery to the best of our ability."

Mac now felt quite tearful, as she shook the man's hand. She was well aware that just ten to fifteen years ago, bone marrow research was in its infancy. Those undergoing a bone-marrow transplantation had much bleaker prospects of recovery and cord-blood transplants at this time hadn't even been thought of.

OOOO

It was a full twenty-four hours later that Mac finally collapsed into her bed. Gina's doctor had said that she had pushed herself enough and that she wasn't to show her face at the hospital for at least another ten hours or if she'd had at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. She had been surprised to find Penny sleeping soundly in her crib and Harm fast asleep in her bed. If she hadn't been so tired, she'd have permitted a naughty thought or two at this finding, but as it was, she quickly changed and crawled in beside him. Though he didn't awaken fully, he automatically moved to make more room for her, wrapping an affectionate arm around her as she joined him in the land of nod.

OOOO

When Harm awoke, six hours later, he moved carefully out of bed, so as to not disturb Mac. He knew she should get as much sleep as her body let her, so decided to get Penny up and changed. Once that was accomplished, the two of them left the apartment to do a bit of grocery shopping, so that breakfast was waiting for Mac when she woke up.

"That smells good…" Mac sniffed, appreciatively, "Have you really cooked me dead pig, squid?!"

"Penny seems to have quite a liking for the smell of it too," Harm played it down, "So I figured two marines would outnumber one lone sailor. I've also got eggs, scrambled or sunny-side up and French toast."

Mac sat down and began to tuck into her meal heartily. Harm put off the news of the phone call he had received at the grocery store until she had finished.

"Martha called me, while I was out grocery shopping…"

Mac looked at him, his signal to continue.

"Her sister fell and broke a hip, yesterday. She'll need somebody to help care for her once she's out of the hospital, but Martha would like to be there while she's recovering from the surgery too."

Of course it was a shame for Martha's poor sister, but it couldn't have come at a worse time. Harm was nearly as swamped with work as before the extra attorney had been brought into JAG, Mac was spending most of her time either with Gina, Penny or sleeping and Bud and Harriet had kids of their own to take care of. Without Martha, things were likely to fall apart.

"I told her the most important thing is to take care of her sister; that we'd manage somehow…"

"Not that I don't agree that she should take care of her sister, but how are we going to manage, Harm?"

"Straight after I finished talking to Martha," Harm continued, "I called General Cresswell and he's given me two days off, to help you with Penny, so you don't have to worry about keeping two other people and yourself healthy…"

Mac was about to interrupt and point out two days weren't enough for Gina to recover, to stop needing help nor for them to find a new nanny to watch Penny, when Harm forged ahead.

"After I procured two days off work, I called my Mom, who's been calling to check in on Gina ever since I mentioned to her that you'd discovered your long-lost sister. She's always said that she'd be happy to help out and she was planning a trip to DC sometime soon anyway."

"I couldn't ask your Mom to take on all this…" Mac began to shake her head, when the phone rang.

Despite her initial fears, it wasn't the hospital, but Harm's mother; Trish, who immediately passed along good wishes to Mac for her sister; that she would recovery quickly and then she launched into her proposed plans for the next few weeks. While not being pushy, Trish was adamant that it was not any problem for her to come to DC, that she'd planned on visiting Harm anyway and she would love to spend some time with Mac's little niece.

"She can be a handful sometimes," Mac warned, "not in a naughty sense, but she has rather specialist needs. She was born very ill and underweight…"

"It's been a while, but I'm sure I still have the touch and I'm sure I can learn everything needed to care for her," Trish insisted, "I'm more worried about keeping you healthy, my dear, because I know how much you must have on your plate, just now. You leave the care of your niece to me and just focus your attention on keeping yourself well and providing your sister with support. Everything will work itself out, I promise."

Mac didn't doubt that Trish was capable of taking very good care of Penny, it was just that with being a marine and having had the childhood that she had, Mac always felt a real need to have control over the situations around her. She didn't feel at all comfortable when things were out of her control and the last six months and more had pushed her to what felt like the very brink of sanity. But after her accident and the discovery of her endometriosis, she had promised herself that she would stop trying to keep such a tight reign on events in her life and just enjoy the life she was blessed to still be living.

"Thank you so much, Trish," Mac smiled as she spoke into the phone, "This will help me more than you could imagine…"

OOOO

Harm collected his Mother from the airport, two days later, with Penny in-tow. Mac was at the hospital with Gina, but would be home later on in the day. After introducing Trish to Penny (a meeting he thought went very well indeed,) Harm took them back to Mac's place, which is where they spent most of their time these days. Gina's apartment had more stairs than Mac's and no elevator, so most of Penny's supplies now resided at Mac's, practical issues over-ruling Gina's initial decision. Harm's place wasn't as child-friendly as Mac's, (though now more so than it had been before Penny and Gina's arrival.) Harm would stay in Mac's guest bedroom, while his mother took his apartment, with Harm running Trish back and forth as needed. She agreed that it was best for her to come to Penny, not the other way around, because a child needed routine and predictability, especially one with special needs such as Penny.

Once Trish had learnt Penny's routine, she decided to take a short nap, while Harm watched Penny. Her flight had been a turbulent one, with a long stop-over in the Chicago.

OOOO

"Hey, Squid. Where's your Mom?" Mac asked when she let herself in and found Harm and Penny playing on the carpeted floor in the living room.

"She went to take a nap, a little while ago," Harm told her, explaining, "Her flight wasn't so good, they had turbulence almost from the minute they took off. If you'd like to take this little bundle of joy, here, I'll go and call for some take-away…What do you fancy, tonight?"

"Anything that used to moo, bleat or cluck," Mac told him, groaning as she dropped her weary bones down onto the carpet, "Rabbit-food just ain't going to cut it, tonight…Other than that, why don't you surprise me?"

Harm raised his eyebrows, but said nothing, then decided to check on his mother before he went to phone in an order to Benzinger's. If necessary, if she wasn't awake, he'd just order something for her, but he found her already on her feet and running a brush through her hair.

"I didn't mean to sleep this long," she commented, "it's just about dinnertime and poor Mac has come home to an empty fridge."

"I was just about to order something in…Mac wants meat, so I was thinking about a steak dinner for her…What can I get for you, Mom?"

Trish ordered the butterfly chicken and once Harm went off to phone the orders in, Trish changed into suitable lounging attire. A pair of loose-fitting slacks and a blouse was nice enough for eating dinner at home with friends, yet comfortable at the same time.

"Mac, darling, how's Gina doing, today?" she pulled Mac into a warm hug, once she made her way back into the living room.

"She's still very tired, but her doctor said that's normal," Mac hugged Trish back, a calm smile on her face.

The few times that Mac had met Trish, she'd always enjoyed the occasion, because Trish was always so warm towards her. Here Mac was, essentially a near-stranger and yet Trish hugged her like a member of the family…Well, she should probably not go there!

When Harm came back from calling for take-out, they all sat down and Mac told them what had been going on at the hospital that day. Very little had actually physically occurred, at least as far as testing was concerned. But Gina had had many more questions, so on top of Mac's queries they had spent much of the day talking to nurses and the doctor.

OOOO


	7. Chapter 7

OOOO

Part 7

Two weeks later…

The past week had been a tense one for all concerned, but especially for Mac. She was fielding a lot of questions from well-wishers and although they all meant well, Mac was feeling very down that she hadn't anything to tell them. Initial tests had so far charted nothing, apart from a change in levels once donor blood had been transfused into Gina.

But Gina wasn't showing any signs of illness or rejection, so Mac kept reminding herself to be thankful. She just kept on praying that time would prove to heal her sister.

When the first significant elevation of her neutrophil levels came on day seventeen, it was just after another blood transfusion, so the full nature of the improvement was unknown. Gina's doctor ordered for her to receive an additional transfusion of platelets and white cells, just to give her body a bit more of a boost. That was followed by another elevation of Gina's neutrophil levels, which Dr. Rennick suspected was more than just what was transfused into her.

But after a few stops and starts, the stem cells in the cord blood really began to get to work. Doctor Rennick was as delighted as his patient and her sister, but warned that Gina was still far from being out of danger, just yet.

OOOO

Panic struck the morning three and a half weeks after Gina's transplant, when Mac woke up to find she was full of a cold. She had been with Gina until late the night before and had felt tired before going to bed, but hadn't felt any of the symptoms now manifesting themselves. She called the hospital to let Gina's nurses know and was advised to stay home. She called Trish to let her know that she would take care of Penny today, but tried to hide the anxiety that was pumping through her veins.

It was with the uttermost surprise that Mac opened her door that afternoon to find Harm, obviously using up all of his lunch break to check on her.

"Mom told me that you're sick," Harm told her, "and she was concerned that you'd be worried about Gina."

"The nurses say that she's looking okay, but…" Mac paused, trying to hold herself together and not fall apart on Harm, "I was with her just last night…I could have been carrying this thing around for days and what if I've…Harm, it could kill her!"

Harm pulled her into his arms, rubbing her back gently, trying to soothe the shaking that had now wracked her slim frame.

"She'll be okay," Harm repeated several times, softly, then, "You and the hospital staff have taken every precaution with scrubbing, masking and gowning up before you've gone in there. And Gina may have very little of an immune system, but she's receiving heavy antibiotics. Give her time and her body will repair itself. We all just have to have faith."

But Mac didn't completely relax until five days after her own cold had dissipated, when Gina had still shown no signs of illness.

With her blood counts improving steadily by the day, Mac was finally able to relax once more…At least until they were woken at three in the morning, up by Penny crying, the next day. Penny never cried, not even when she fell down so when she discovered Penny with a raging fever, Mac really did worry. The little girl seemed to have head pain and her balance was off, so Mac thought it important to take her straight to the pediatrician. He diagnosed her with an inner ear infection and prescribed antibiotics before sending her home to rest. The first thing Mac did after tucking Penny into her crib for a nap was call the hospital, so that Gina knew why she hadn't turned up. As much as she wanted to check on her sister, she knew Gina would want her looking after Penny and also Mac would not take the chance of possibly bringing this infection into Gina. Trish came in the afternoon took Penny off her hands, so Mac had the opportunity to recoup the sleep she'd lost early that morning. She gladly accepted it, because she hadn't been sleeping well since before Gina's transplant. Harm joined them after work, looking as tired as Mac had felt before her nap, because he'd not gotten back to sleep after Penny woke them up, before he had to get up at 0630.

They ate a quiet dinner, before Mac volunteered to run Trish back to Harm's apartment. Harm lay down on the couch with Penny, intending to watch some tv, but was out for the count within minutes. By the time Mac came home, Penny was also asleep, so she had to gently lift her out of Harm's arms, to put her to bed. Then she woke Harm up, so that he could get off the couch and into a more comfortable bed. She didn't think his back would appreciate her leaving him to sleep there!

The two gratefully crashed in the double bed, not even having the energy to shift an inch before they were deep in sleep.

Mac woke at around 6am, to check on Penny. Relieved to find her temperature back to normal and that the little girl was sleeping comfortably, she indulged herself in crawling back in beside her favorite sailor!

"Mmm…" Harm stirred, as she climbed back in and tucked her cold feet in next to his warm ones, "Good morning to you, too, Marine!"

Mac chuckled as she snuggled in next to him.

He accommodatingly opened his arms and wrapped them around her, helping her get warm again.

"What would I do without you, squid?" she sighed, contentedly.

"Well," he supposed, enjoying this cuddly side of his Marine, yet knowing what time it was, "unfortunately for you, you'll have to find that out, 'cause it's time to start a brand new workday."

"Nuh-uh," she shook her head stubbornly, before burying it further into his chest, "No way."

"Sorry, Marine," he apologized, ruefully, "but I've got to get to work and my Mom's going to be here in an hour, so you'll have to get up and get Penny ready, soon."

"Just five minutes longer," Mac pleaded plaintively.

"Nope, afraid not, Mac," Harm playfully swatted her six on top of the duvet as he got out of bed and headed to the shower, "Up an' at 'em, Marine!"

OOOO

"How're you doing?" Harm asked, as he entered Mac's office.

Watching her rub her eyes again, he knew he had his answer and so brought out the cup of marine-grade coffee from behind his back.

"God bless you!" Mac took it eagerly from him and began to consume it, with vigor.

"I take it you're enjoying that…" Harm watched her, his gaze locked on hers and powerful.

The things she was doing with that beverage just amazed him! God, to be that cup of caffeine-laden liquid!

"Hmmm?" Mac looked up, noticing him staring at her lips, "Thanks, Harm…You have no idea how much I need this…"

As she lavished him with a heart-felt smile, Harm felt his heart speed up, just as he had, this morning. But they were interrupted by a knock on Mac's office door. It turned out to be PO Coates.

"Ma'am, Sir? General Cresswell has requested your presence in his office…"

We'll be right there, Coates," Harm told her, before giving Mac a small smile in return, before going to his office. He knew what this meeting was likely to be about and he would need his notes on the case, in order to fill his CO in on their progress, so far.

OOOO

Almost 6 Months later…

"Mac?" Came Harriet's voice, through the crowd, "What's this mean?"

Mac stopped where she was operating the video camera, to see what Harriet was asking.

It was exactly six months since Gina's transplant and she and Harm had arranged a big bash to celebrate Gina's doctor giving her third all-clear, since her transplant. She was by no means cured, but she was making progress every day.

Mac watched Harriet make her best attempt at signing something, before realizing what it was.

"That's the sign for 'Mother'…" Mac shook her head, before asking, "Harriet, where did you…"

She was interrupted by a huge squeal.

"Gina?!" Mac quickly sidled through the crowd of people, to where she heard the commotion coming from.

Her sister was lifting her daughter high, twirling her around.

"I wouldn't do that, Gina," Harm was grinning, "She had cake not too long ago!"

"What?" Mac asked, looking from Gina to Harm, to Harriet.

"She signed "Mommy!'" Gina was beyond proud, "I have the cleverest little girl in the whole world!"

Although she couldn't understand what her Mother was saying at the moment, Penny knew that she had done something good and that her Mother was rewarding her for it.

And although Penny was still very much behind many children of her age, Gina didn't care; this was essentially her child's 'first word.' The fact that that word was 'Mommy' was also very much peace of mind to her, after having spent so much of the last year away from her child.

OOOO

"How about we go and get you a popsicle?" Mac signed to her niece, waiting for Penny to respond to her with a nod, before lifting her into her arms and bringing her into the kitchen to search for the promised treat.

Bud came in a few seconds later with a bag of balloons he'd using to entertain his own kids. He extracted a couple, blowing them up and securely knotting the ends.

"You're really good at that, Bud," Mac commented, watching Bud twist the pair of long sculpting balloons into the shape of a parrot on a swing, before handing it to her entranced niece.

"I spent my weekends working as an assistant to a magician and children's entertainer, my senior year of high-school," Bud revealed, setting to work on another balloon, "It's a great skill to have, particularly when you want to keep your own kids entertained, Ma'am."

With a flourish, he produced a balloon-squirrel, sitting up on its back legs. Penny grinned with delight.

"And to think I wasted all that time waitressing," Mac laughed.

"I think you'd have made a fantastic magician's assistant," Harm agreed, coming back into the kitchen to get some more drinks for their guests, a naughty grin on his face.

Bud blushed and Mac slapped him on the arm, as he squeezed past her, to get to the fridge.

"What did you do, for your first job, Sir?" Bud tried to ease the tension in the room.

"Uh, I worked as a boat-boy, for my Stepfather…" Harm gathered as many cans and bottles as he could manage, almost dropping a few before Bud quickly stepped in to assist him.

Mac lifted Penny, who was busy feeding her popsicle to her squirrel and her parrot and they all made their way back out to the living area.

OOOO

"Well, it's been one hell of an evening, but I'd better get this clever girl home," Gina sighed, lifting herself out of her armchair and scooping her daughter up off the carpeted floor.

She hadn't missed the strong sexual undercurrent that had been flowing between Harm and Mac, since the last lot of guests had left.

She brought her daughter over to kiss them goodbye, before kissing her sister and hugging her sister's boyfriend, thanking them for a wonderful party to celebrate her good news.

Harm and Mac, as much as they both loved Gina and Penny, barely even noticed the two disappear out the door.

"So," Mac finally brought up the thought that had been bothering her, much of the night, "tell me more about your first job…"

"Okay," Harm smiled, curiously, "What do you want to know about it?"

"Well, what exactly did this 'boat-boy' job entail?" Mac smiled, that dark look in her eyes setting Harm slightly on edge.

"Well," he began, pondering just what she was up to, "I spent a lot of time diving, inspecting and cleaning the hull of Frank's yacht, those sort of things…I wasn't too skilled in engineering, then, so I just took care of the menial tasks…"

"And," Harm couldn't help but notice her tongue darting out to wet her lips, as she scooted towards him on the couch, "I would guess you spent a lot of time in the sunshine, soaping it up…Uh, the boat, I mean…"

Harm couldn't help his bemused smile, as she climbed onto his lap…If he wasn't mistaken, Sarah MacKenzie had that hazy, dreamy look on her face, her voice deep and husky, her pupils dilated; all signs that she was being turned on!

Harm was caught off-guard when she fused her lips with his own, kissing him long and deep, with barely restrained passion, telling him just how she was aching for him.

How had they gotten to this point from Bud's original conversation, about teenage weekend jobs?

When the feverish kiss tailed off and she pulled away so that they could breathe again, he soon got his answer.

"So, I imagine a job like that would have often had you all, um…sudsy…"

FIN


End file.
